By Stefanos Evripidou
CYPRIOTS battled against the elements yesterday as heavy snow continued to fall, backed by wind, rain, hail and frost, closing tens of schools, blowing down trees and causing 36 road accidents, while cutting off 19 villages across the island from the outside world.
According to traffic police chief Andreas Papas, over 36 road accidents occurred in the Nicosia district alone due to slippery roads, with five pile-ups in the greater Nicosia region, one of them involving a 1,000 car tailback on the Nicosia-Limassol highway.
He warned motorists to drive slower and keep greater distances from each other, warning that the frosty weather conditions and slippery roads were the perfect recipe for disaster. After yesterday’s numbers were released, police called on the public to take greater precaution on the road and observe the multitude of police warnings to avoid more smash-ups.
The Nicosia-Limassol highway played host to three pile-ups while two more occurred in the Nicosia district yesterday, including a 10-car accident on the Nicosia-Kokkinotrimithia highway. Nobody was seriously injured in the accidents.
Motorists driving to the capital got stuck in a 1,000-car traffic jam on the Nicosia-Limassol highway after slippery roads caused another pile-up. “There are about 100 cars per minute on the Limassol highway coming into Nicosia every morning. When traffic stops for ten minutes, 1,000 cars come to a standstill,” said Papas.
All roads to Troodos were closed to traffic and many more restricted to cars with four-wheel drive or snow chains due to heavy snowfall. Around 19 villages throughout Cyprus, including Kannavia and Spilia, were snowed in and had to have supplies of milk and bread delivered by police forces. The road next to Chrisorroyiatissa monastery was blocked by a fallen tree while police made efforts to reopen the route.
The measure of snow reached one metre on Mount Olympus and 85 centimetres in Troodos Square. Providing a majestic view to many in the capital, a blanket of snow also covered the occupied Pentadaktylos mountain range.
The Civil Defence issued warnings to people not to travel unnecessarily under bad weather conditions. They released public guidelines to deal with bad weather, reminding people that if their car gets stranded by floods, they should abandon the vehicle and find refuge in a safe place.
The Education Ministry announced that foul weather conditions caused the closing of 30 kindergartens, 46 primary schools, two technical schools and 11 high schools in the Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos districts. According to Turkish Cypriot press, schools in the occupied north were also closed due to bad weather conditions.
The Water Department revealed that rainfall had reached 143.5mm for February, surpassing average rainfall for the month by 76 per cent. The winter season rainfall, from October to February, reached 106 per cent of normal rainfall for that period, hitting 398mm.
Last night’s temperatures dropped to minus six degrees on the mountains, below zero inland and two degrees on the coast, with plenty of frost forecast overnight. Today’s forecast predicts finer weather interjected with clouds and a gradual rise in temperature to 11 degrees inland, 13 on the coast and zero on the mountains. Sporadic clouds and rain and snow will continue tomorrow with the weather shaping up a little for the weekend; expect a temperature rise coupled with scattered showers.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
