Heavy snows blanked Romania

Heavy snows blanketed Romania on Wednesday, knocking out power, blocking roads and delaying flights. In Bucharest , a blizzard overnight slowed traffic in the capital and closed down some routes.

Photo: Heavy snows blanked Romania

International flights were delayed in the southwestern city of Timisoara because passengers could not reach the airport, airport spokeswoman Carmen Stoica said. Crews worked all night to clear snow off runways, she said. Fourteen other airports across Romania also were affected by the snow, the Transportation Ministry said in a statement.

In the southern county of Dambovita , hundreds of residents reported outages caused by 12 hours of heavy snow that damaged power lines, authorities said. Several roads were blocked, with snow 25 centimeters (10 inches) thick on the roads.

Trucks were blocked in the central county of Harghita , authorities there said. Snow was a half-meter (20 inches) high in the central city of Miercurea Ciuc. In the northeast county of Vaslui , several roads were blocked by heavy, authorities said, reports the AP.

N.U.