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The severe weather is wreaking havoc across the region, with snowdrifts also closing highways and halting trains.
Tens of thousands of homes in Bosnia and Herzegovina were left without power after heavy snow and winds also brought traffic chaos to neighboring Croatia and Serbia.
“Despite efforts and continuous work to repair the faults, the power situation has worsened. Currently, 127,000 metering points are without electricity,” distributor Elektroprivreda BiH said on Tuesday.
Elektrokrajina, which covers municipalities in the Bosnian Serb region of Republika Srpska, also announced that about 50,000 of its customers were without power.
“All available field crews have been dispatched and have been working since the early morning hours to repair the damage,” the company said.
A state of emergency was declared in western Bosnia after bad weather blocked all entry and exit points to the municipality of Drvar, cutting off its 17,000 residents.
“The situation is extremely difficult. The snow continues to fall. People are stuck in the snow,” Jasna Pečanac, chairwoman of the Drvar Municipal Council, told local media.
In the Balkans, authorities issued travel warnings as snowdrifts closed some major routes. Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia banned the movement of heavy goods vehicles and imposed restricted traffic levels on affected roads.
Snowdrifts in some villages around Drwar were up to two meters (6.5 ft) high and a strong blizzard hampered clearing efforts. “We are asking for help with snow removal. All available equipment is already in the field,” said Pechanak.
Heavy snowfall has canceled classes in primary schools in Banja Luka, the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Republika Srpska.
A day earlier, classes were also suspended in approximately 70 primary and secondary schools in the Una-Sana canton in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Parts of Bosnia also faced a complete shutdown of rail traffic. The country's state energy company described the situation as “extremely severe” in some areas of the country. Heavy, wet snow severed distribution lines that were difficult to access, it said in a statement.
Regional television N1 reported that dozens of vehicles were stuck in the snow for 10 hours in western Bosnia overnight before they could continue.
In Slovenia, the search for an injured Hungarian tourist missing in the Alps north of the capital Ljubljana since Sunday was suspended due to high winds. Rescuers on Monday reached his companion and transferred her to a safe place.
In central Croatia, a mountain rescue team used skis early Tuesday to reach a man who was stuck in his car on his way to a hospital for dialysis. “We got him there in time,” said lifeguard Dario Cindric.
