Local media reports said wind speeds reached more than 70 kilometers (43 miles) an hour, while water levels were as high as 1.5 meters (5 feet) in the worst-affected parts of the city.
Advertisement
Six people are missing and more than 60 were hospitalised, as police and army helicopters searched for survivors and evacuated hundreds from the flood zone.
The Red Cross of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has launched an appeal to fund more emergency supplies including baby food, nappies and cleaning kits as people begin the hard task of clearing flood water and debris from their homes.
People walk through a street where cars have piled due to overnight flooding, after storms in the village of Stajkovci, just east of Skopje, Macedonia on Sunday. The floods destroyed hundreds of homes and vehicles and roads are still impassable.
At least twenty people have died in flash floods in and around Skopje, the capital of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Forecasters predict more rain, and possibly strong winds.
“This is a catastrophe of unprecedented magnitude”, Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Todorov said. Care also should be taken with the consumption of food, such as vegetables from gardens that may be contaminated by floodwater, authorities said.
Authorities urged people to stay at home and to only drink bottled water. The bridge connecting one island to the coast was closed and the highway linking the capital Zagreb to the southern coast was at times shut to lorries and large buses because of the winds. The ring road surrounding the capital was reportedly heavily damaged.
Advertisement
Disruptions created by the bad weather have clogged the roads, creating traffic backups among cars carrying tourists toward Croatia’s coastal resorts along the Adriatic Sea.
