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SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Heavy snow and rainfall left villages in the Balkans without power Thursday, and caused floods, landslides and traffic jams in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro.
The blizzard dumped 2.5 meters (8 feet) of snow on mountains around Sarajevo, closing roads and leaving dozens of mountain villages cut off and without electricity.
Heavy snowfall began Wednesday and isn't forecast to relent before the weekend. In Bosnia's north, authorities declared a state of emergency because of rising water levels of the Vrbas river that runs through Banja Luka, one of the country's biggest cities.
The storm also rolled through Croatia, prompting authorities to close down numerous roads and cancel ferry traffic on the Adriatic coast.
Strong winds toppled trees, overturned vehicles and damaged power lines in several coastal towns, leaving more than 15,000 households without electricity. Wind gusts in some parts of the country reached 160 kph (100 mph).
In Serbia, on the border with Montenegro, about 2,000 households lost electricity because heavy snow damaged the grid.
In Montenegro, local and regional roads were closed because of flooding and landslides. Local media reported that some households were evacuated from the village of Glavatske Kucice in the coastal municipality of Kotor.
"My house was completely flooded, but I managed to evacuate my wife and children. In other houses, people are trying to fight the water," Enes Pupovic told local media.
Around 20 passengers were trapped in a snow-covered tunnel on the local road between Niksic and Savnik in the north, while snow blowers and rescue teams were trying to reach them, local media reported.
Last year's flooding — the worst in 120 years — devastated the region, killing nearly 80 people, and forcing about 140,000 people to leave their homes.
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Predrag Milic in Podgorica, Montenegro, and Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this report.
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