Workers were still trying to restore power to some 20,000 households left in the dark for three days in the central Turkish province of Isparta after heavy snow caused disruptions to the electricity grid, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Saturday, according to news website Haberturk. The city has been without electricity for three days, as at least two elderly men were reported to have frozen to death (Governor’s office attributes the fatalities to natural causes), while thousands have marched on the streets demanding service.
“Heavy snow and a blizzard caused serious damage to energy infrastructure… initially 113,236 users were left without electricity in the province…units are working in the field to restore energy to the remaining 20,000 users,” Donmez said.
The governor’s office in Isparta said some neighborhoods and villages were still without electricity since the snow started on Thursday but grid maintenance personnel were continuing work on power transmission lines.
“There is a delay in restoring power… as the disruptions in utility poles occurred in a wide area impacting different lines, transportation to the areas is difficult and snow depth is around 1 meter (yard),” the governor’s office said in a statement.
The authorities decided to ban use of motorbikes and electric scooters since Thursday and pause face to face education in schools for five days in the city of 450,000 people as of Feb. 7, according to a statement on governor’s office website.
Turkish man Ramazan Nazlı was found dead in his home in Yalvaç, Isparta during a citywide blackout due to heavy snowfall, Halk TV reported on Sunday.
The elderly man was living alone in a single-story house in the countryside. He was discovered when neighbors were concerned after not seeing him leave the house for several days.
Nazlı was taken to the morgue for an autopsy, but first responders believe he had frozen to death.
With temperatures falling to -7 °C, many residents had left their homes to stay with their relatives who still used wood and coal burning stoves, instead of methods using electricity.
Videos posted on social media showed Isparta residents using their gas stoves to heat their homes.
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