Balkans snowstorm leaves tens of thousands of homes without power and causes traffic chaos

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Tens of thousands of homes in Bosnia were without electricity on Tuesday after heavy snow and winds that also brought traffic chaos in neighboring Croatia and Serbia.

In Slovenia, the search for an injured Hungarian hiker missing in the Alps north of the capital, Ljubljana, since Sunday was suspended because of strong winds. Rescuers on Monday reached his female companion and transferred her to safety.

Throughout the Balkans authorities issued travel warnings as snow drifts closed some major routes. Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia banned the movement of heavy vehicles and imposed limited traffic levels on affected roads.

A mountain rescue team used skis early Tuesday to reach a man who was stuck in his car while heading to a hospital for dialysis in central Croatia.

“We brought him there in time,” rescuer Dario Cindric said.

Parts of Bosnia faced a total halt of railway traffic. And Bosnia's state power company described the situation as “extremely hard” in some areas of the country. Heavy, moist snow brought down distribution lines which were hard to access, it said in a statement.

Northwestern and western Bosnia were hit hardest by the storm. Residents in some areas were left without drinking water, while schools were shut for a second day.

Regional N1 television reported dozens of vehicles were stuck in the snow for 10 hours in western Bosnia overnight before they could continue.

Authorities in the town of Drvar declared an emergency while struggling to clear snow. Municipal council president Jasna Pecanac told local radio that the town was cut off. “Many of our residents are stuck in the snow,” she said.

A woman walks through the snow covered street during a snowfall, in Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Two women take a selfie in a snow covered park during a snowfall, in Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

A man with a dog walks through a snow covered park during a snowfall, in Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

A woman with a dog walks through a snow covered street in Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

An aerial view of parked trolley buses during heavy snowfall in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

A woman walks through the park during heavy snowfall in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

A man walks through a snow covered park during a snowfall, in Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

An aerial view of parked trolley buses during heavy snowfall in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

An aerial view of a soccer stadium during heavy snowfall in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

An aerial view of parked trolley buses during heavy snowfall in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

An aerial view of the city traffic during heavy snowfall in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

An aerial view of parked trolley buses during heavy snowfall in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

An aerial view of the city traffic during heavy snowfall in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

A man cleans snow of his car during heavy snowfall in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

A woman walks through the park during heavy snowfall in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday due to a technical issue just as the Christmas travel season kicks into high gear.

American flights were cleared to fly by federal regulators about one hour after a national ground stop order was issued by federal regulators.

Just before 7 a.m. Eastern time, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered all American Airlines flights grounded in the U.S. at the airline’s request. American had reported a technical issue affecting its entire system with millions traveling for the holiday.

The ground stop, according to the time stamps on the FAA's orders, lasted exactly one hour.

American has not expanded on what technical issue grounded the flights and the airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The groundings couldn't come at a worse time for the millions of travelers expected to fly over the next 10 days. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers over the holidays and through January 2.

Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations even more disruptive than during slower periods. Even with just a brief outage, the cancellations have a cascading effect that can take days to clear up.

In December 2022, Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million travelers, and Delta Air Lines suffered a smaller but significant meltdown after a worldwide technology outage in July caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.

Southwest was ordered to pay a $35 million fine as part of a $140 million settlement to resolve a federal investigation into the Christmas debacle of 2022.

Excluding the settlement, the nation’s fourth-biggest airline by revenue said the meltdown cost it more than $1.1 billion in refunds and reimbursements, extra costs and lost ticket sales over several months.

FILE - American Airlines planes wait at gates at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Friday, July 19, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)