Ice covers fields 20 hours after hailstorm

Ice covers fields 20 hours after hail storm

BLACE -- A storm that produced hailstones the size of hazelnuts hit the villages of Kaševar and Trbunje in the Blace municipality late on Sunday.

The storm formed ice cover that severely damaged crops and was still in place 20 hours later, despite air temperatures reaching 28 degrees Celsius on Monday, the Beta news agency reported.

Head of the local self-government unit Dobrica Milosaveljvić said that the damage was "huge" and affected strawberry, cherry and plum plantations.

Locals told reporters that the hail storm of the kind they experienced on Sunday "did not happen in the past 100 years."

70-year-old Miloš Tomić said the ice was carried by torrential water and was one meter deep in some places.

Blace Mayor Ivan Burgić said that expert teams were in the field assessing the damage, while local farmers believe that that the damage is "complete."