© ScanpixFront-end loader clears snow on Bornholm
"You can't even imagine how bad this is. The roads are closed, and they are digging and digging, and they just can't get through," said Helle Skov Olesen, who lives on the island nestled between Sweden and the northern coasts of Germany and Poland.
"They don't even know where to put the snow," she told daily Politiken.
Denmark's meteorological institute (DMI) measured 140 centimetres (55 inches) of snow on Bornholm, "the equivalent of the amount of snow at various ski resorts," Steen Rasmussen of the institute said.
The heavy snowfall started Thursday, and according to television reports, lay up to six meters (19.6 feet) deep in some locations.
Politiken said Bornholm's police has asked for over 200 extra vehicles such as trucks, tractors, and snow ploughs to clear the roads.
So much snow has fallen that authorities have allowed it to be dumped in the sea, which is normally forbidden.
The Bornholm police set up an emergency response centre in Roenne, the island's main municipality.
Police said they were too busy to answer questions Tuesday, but their website shows a number of residents have lodged emergency requests for medicine, fuel and animal feed.
Only a few Danish army track vehicles are able to circulate on Bornholm and even they are only doing so with difficulty.
DMI planned expected light snow on Tuesday and Wednesday but little wind, meaning the snow will not drift.
Temperatures are a few degrees below freezing and expected to stay at that level until Friday.
Source: Agence France-Presse
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