-
HAKKARI, Turkey - In Turkey’s Kurdish southeast, heavy snow and cold temperatures have brought life to a standstill. Hundreds of villages are snowed in.
"All the roads are closed and the people are stuck," said Hakkari (Colemerg) resident Silhedin Haznedar. "There is no place for us to go due to snow."
Serhat Oguz, another local, said that they have taken matters into their own hands to clear paths to their shops so their customers can return to the market to buy essentials.
"I clear the doorsteps of the shop so people can enter the shops. We clear the roads of snow," Oguz said.
Roads to 1,414 villages have been closed in Hakkari, Bitlis, Mus, and Van.
In some areas like Semdinli, three meters of snow has fallen and villagers say this is the most snow they’ve seen in over three decades.
Hakkari is one of the regions hit hard by the snow. Roads connecting the city center to 355 outlying villages are blocked and the electricity is out in many places.
Villagers complain that municipal crews are too slow clearing the snow and reopening the roads.
"Not enough is being done to open the roads," said Hakkari resident Zeki Polat. "However, this year is still better compared with the previous years. Part of the neighborhood roads are now open."
The weather forecast is for more snow through the end of next week.
"All the roads are closed and the people are stuck," said Hakkari (Colemerg) resident Silhedin Haznedar. "There is no place for us to go due to snow."
Serhat Oguz, another local, said that they have taken matters into their own hands to clear paths to their shops so their customers can return to the market to buy essentials.
"I clear the doorsteps of the shop so people can enter the shops. We clear the roads of snow," Oguz said.
Roads to 1,414 villages have been closed in Hakkari, Bitlis, Mus, and Van.
In some areas like Semdinli, three meters of snow has fallen and villagers say this is the most snow they’ve seen in over three decades.
Hakkari is one of the regions hit hard by the snow. Roads connecting the city center to 355 outlying villages are blocked and the electricity is out in many places.
Villagers complain that municipal crews are too slow clearing the snow and reopening the roads.
"Not enough is being done to open the roads," said Hakkari resident Zeki Polat. "However, this year is still better compared with the previous years. Part of the neighborhood roads are now open."
The weather forecast is for more snow through the end of next week.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment