Snowfall in Turkey | Education suspended, roads closed

* Photo: Snowfall in Giresun, March 17, 2022 / AA

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The İstanbul Governor's Office has suspended education in all public and private schools and other courses and educational institutions in the city until Monday (March 21) based on the weather forecast shared by the Regional Directorate Meteorology yesterday (March 17).

The civil servants with disabilities and the ones who are pregnant will also be on administrative leave in the city today.

Schools closed in Trabzon, Rize

The Governor's Office of Trabzon in the Black Sea region in the northeast has also announced that all schools and all types of educational activities will be suspended today due to "adverse weather conditions". Disabled and pregnant civil servants will also be on leave.

Similarly, the Governor's Office of Rize in the Black Sea has suspended education in the city tomorrow and put the civil servants with disabilities and who are pregnant on administrative leave today.

Heavy snowfall in the east, frost in the south

According to a statement released by the Directorate General of Meteorology, starting from today, heavy snowfall is expected in Turkey's eastern provinces of Erzincan, Tunceli, Elazığ, Bingöl, Muş, Bitlis, Erzurum, Kars, Ağrı, Ardahan, Van, Diyarbakır, Batman and Siirt.

While the snowfall is expected to abate in the west tomorrow (March 19) and in the east the day after, citizens are warned against interruptions in transportation, ice and frost on the roads and avalanche risks.

In the western parts of the Aegean region and the coastal areas of the Mediterranean in the south, frost is expected in agricultural areas.

Roads closed in the Black Sea

The latest reports have shown that 402 residential areas are inaccessible due to the snow in the Central and Eastern Black Sea regions.

While the roads to 36 neighborhoods have been closed as a result of snowfall in Trabzon, the roads of 149 villages in Artvin have also been closed for the same reason. While 17 of these villages are in Artvin city center, 27 are in its Ardanuç district, 12 in Arhavi, 36 in Borçka, 10 in Murgul, five in Hopa, four in Kemalpaşa, 29 in Şavşat and nine in Yusufeli.

The Giresun Governor's Office has also announced that 105 village roads have been closed to traffic: 31 in Alucra, six in Çanakçı, four in Dereli, five in Doğankent, 15 in Espiye, three in Eynesil, 15 in Görele, six in Güce, three in Keşap, eight in Tirebolu and nine in Yağlıdere.

In the Black Sea province of Rize and its districts, the number of villages inaccessible due to adverse weather conditions is 73: Five in central district, nine in Ardeşen, 15 in Çamlıhemşin, four in Derepazarı, five in Fındıklı, four in Hemşin, 22 in İkizdere and nine in Pazar.

In Gümüşhane, the roads leading to 39 villages are also closed to traffic due to heavy snowfall and blizzards.

Ordu province in the Black Sea has also been severely affected by the snowfall. The snow cover in Akkuş is reportedly 2 meters high in some parts of the district. 116 neighborhood and group roads have been opened to traffic thanks to the municipal teams' efforts. (AEK/SD)