Serbia like Siberia, here's how people live at -30 degrees: "Belgraders would lose their cars first"

Serbia woke up this morning to an icy shock. Our elders say, it's nothing strange, they grew up like that, but... When you need to start your car, defrost your tap or pay for heating, it's gets a little harder for everyone who lives in "Serbian Siberia."  Phone batteries are switching off, and you don't go anywhere unless absolutely necessary.

Sjenica was the coldest this morning, where -25 degrees were mesured, but that is only the official number. Word around that town is that people measured under -30 degrees, and one photo from Mt. Zlatibor is proof that this western part of the country also welcomed an icy, Siberian morning with -30 temperatures.

"I think that part of Zlatibor is right behind the Pester Plateau when it comes to how cold it gets," Vojimir Marjanovic from Vodice on Zlatibor told us.

One of his photos shows a thermometer that measured a record -31 degrees Celsius.

The clear sky as it dawned over the mountains covered with snow meant trouble. Because, as journalist from Sjenica Denis Selmanovic told us, such weather conditions lead to extreme cold, and the consequences are not only the scenes of a winter idyll.

"This morning it was officially -25 degrees, but in some places it was -27, -28, and even -31, people in the town say. The temperature is measured at the weather station, and it's a little warmer up there, at some micro-locations in the town it will have been 5 to 6 and even 10 degrees colder. The coldest spot is in the center, near the post office," says Denis.

It is difficult to get up at -30 degrees, but someone still has to fire up the stove, check the water pipes, drive to work, go see the doctor. These are the moments when only people accustomed to bitter winters can cope. Belgraders would have a hard time passing that test. For starters - there is no heating plant that heats apartments at night while people sleep carefree.

"The tough life in this region has forced us to learn some things, some tricks, how not to let water pipes freeze, how to start the car in the morning. The first thing that would probably happen to a Belgrader in Sjenica now, is they could not start their car. Inexperienced people wouldn't know to remove the battery overnight and leave the car facing north. When it comes to how to dress, it's important not only to have the right clothes, but also to know how to put them on. You don't go on a trip unless it's completely necessary, and the tank must be full in that case. One candle in the car can save a life," says Denis.

Water pipes are checked several times during the night, because even good insulation sometimes does not help. It is sometimes necessary to keep the tap dripping.

Still, it's providing the heating that's the hardest. According to Denis, if the state subsidized heating in these areas, it would be much easier to survive the winter. Because, when the temperatures hit extreme numbers, a large amount of coal gets used, and it happens that a family has to spend an entire salary just on heating.

"All systems work with difficulty, and the worst thing is maintaining the temperature, which is not easy either economically or physically. In larger buildings, system failures also occur, because elements wear out when temperatures are extremely low."

Vojin Marjanovic measured -30 degrees in his car on Mt. Zlatibor. And we asked how he managed to start that car in the first place.

"I pushed the one! And the other failed to start, both run on gasoline. Diesel (engine) doesn't work here," he told us.

(Telegraf.rs)