Disaster type: Cold Wave
Affected countries: Albania, Algeria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Ukraine
Several municipalities in Kosovo were affected by strong winds that lasted for 24 hours, followed by heavy snowfall on 6 and 7 Jan 2012. The most affected municipalities are Istog, Kamenica and Peja. (IFRC, 13 Jan 2012).
On 2 Feb 2012, the cold snap pushed the death toll past 150 as countries from Italy to Ukraine struggled to cope with temperatures that reached record lows in some places (AFP, 2 Feb 2012).
Ukraine was reportedly the worst hit area with bitter cold with heavy snowstorms and temperatures falling to minus 20-25 degrees Celsius. At least 112 people died in Ukraine due to the cold weather. Most of them were homeless who froze to death in the streets or old people who died in their homes or after their hospitalization. Around 2,500 people were hospitalized with frostbite and hypothermia. Several factors related to the difficult social and economic situation in Ukraine had worsened the effects of the cold wave in the country. People living below the poverty level and without permanent address (homeless) were particularly hardly affected. (IFRC, 30 Jun 2012)
Date: 06 Jan 2012
Status: Past disaster
