I am happy not to be in Istanbul right now:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">...Turkey was worst hit by the storms, which dumped 50 centimetres of snow on Istanbul...Authorities declared a state of alert, mobilising some 9,000 police and municipality staff...Schools, universities and the stock exchange were closed, and emergency services had to rush to rescue drivers stranded in their cars.....The conditions are equivalent to a disaster. Istanbul is going through a hardship unseen in 50 years ....Parts of the city were still without water and electricity as the night descended in freezing temperatures.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3424123.stm