Denmark's Bornholm Island was isolated by deep snow drifts that left hundreds of people, including holiday visitors, trapped on the Baltic Sea territory, once a strategic battleground in the second world war and center of Cold War rivalry between NATO and the Soviet Union.
Danish radio reports said high walls of snow caused by massive drifts for two consecutive days covered homes and tourist businesses on the island, farthest east from mainland Denmark, south of Sweden and north of Poland.
Before help began arriving from mainland Denmark, residents swung into action to attend to elderly neighbors to deliver food supplies and in some cases offer medical attention after two days of being trapped under heavy snow.
There was no immediate report of serious injuries among the island's population of about 42,150. Bornholm Mayor Winni Grosboll told Danish Internet radio DR she was anxious to reach out to residents who might still be inaccessible because of blocked secondary roads or lack of easy access.
Residents said the onslaught of snow this week was without precedent in the past several decades.
It took police and military relief teams several hours to clear the main roads after ferries delivered plows to deal with the snow, which reached depths of 20 feet. Airport operations resumed after two days of inactivity caused by the heavy snowdrifts.
"We've just been up in a helicopter to get an overview of the situation and it looks really good," said the mayor. "Right now almost all roads are cleared."
Grosboll said that around 50 properties centrally located on the island were yet to be connected with the road network but some of them were summer cottages, implying they could be unoccupied.
She said her worst fear was if something happens to one of those citizens still out of contact because of distance from the cleared road network.
"I'm actually quite proud to be mayor of an island where we, in spite of the massive snowfall, have been able to maintain readiness and able to provide a service, so no one has suffered distress," said Grosboll.
Bornholm was captured by Nazi Germany relatively early in the war as a strategic outpost, then shelled by Soviet forces in the last days of the conflict. The island remained a bone of contention in Cold War years when Russian sensitivity prevented Denmark from allowing non-Danish NATO forces — especially U.S. military personnel — from using military facilities on the island.
The Academy Award-winning 1987 film, "Pelle the Conqueror," directed by Bille August, was set and shot on the island.
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