TIRANA, Nov. 24 – Torrential rains over the weekend, which killed two people and flooded parts of Albania, are being blamed for two days of lack of running water across Tirana.
The municipal water supply company said a main reservoir had been clogged with debris due to the heavy rains, and they had to shut down the supply for safety reasons.
A spokesman said the water was turned back on this morning.
Residents in the downtown area of the Albanian capital and other areas of the city took to social media to complain of the type of water shortages many had not seen since the chaotic late 1990s.
The city’s main hospitals told patients that were not in need of urgent care to go home due to lack of running water.
Tirana Municipality said it was providing an emergency water supply through tankers for hospitals and schools.
Mayor Erion Veliaj said the situation would normalize Tuesday.
Tirana and the rest of the country now face flooding on a regular basis, much of it blamed on old drainage infrastructure and illegal construction on water collection systems. Climate change could also be a factor, expert say.
Over the weekend, two people are presumed to have died due to flash floods resulting from torrential rains. Streets and roads in many parts of Albania flooded, including the main highway linking Tirana to Durres.
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