33 Hospitalized, 117 Wrecked Cars and Entire Plantations Destroyed: North Macedonia Counts the Storm Damage — While Farmers Ask Who Will Pay

Two days after the devastating storm swept the country on the evening of July 21 with winds exceeding 130 km/h, the toll keeps growing: 33 people were hospitalized, in Skopje alone 117 vehicles and 35 roofs were damaged and 189 trees toppled, and the 112 emergency line received over 9,000 calls after 5 p.m. Meanwhile, in the Strumica region — the heart of Macedonian vegetable farming — growers stand before destroyed greenhouses asking when and how the state will compensate them.

Key state institutions damaged

The Interior Ministry confirmed damage to facilities of vital importance, including premises of the Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime and Corruption, the Vodno residential complex, the Petrovec airport police base, and the buildings of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture. The old roof of the "8 September" hospital in Skopje was damaged, while the Clinical Hospital in Shtip suffered heavy damage to its orthopedics department and operating room — fracture patients from the eastern region are temporarily being redirected to other health centers.

Of the 33 hospitalized, 22 were treated at "Sv. Naum Ohridski" and 11 at the "Mother Teresa" Clinical Center, three of them with fractures. All are in stable condition. EVN registered 2,308 transformer stations without power, and outbound border control at Skopje airport was suspended for about an hour and a half due to a leaking roof.

Strumica: a blow to vegetable farming

The largest economic damage is expected in agriculture. In the villages of Dablje and Piperovo, and in Vasilevo municipality, horticultural crops, greenhouses and foil covers were damaged, with downed power poles reported in Dobroshinci and Gradoshorci. Agriculture Minister Borche Serafimovski, who visited the affected areas with Strumica Mayor Petar Jankov, said that "behind every damaged horticultural crop stand a lot of work, knowledge and investment" and that "the institutions' obligation is that farmers do not remain alone when a weather disaster threatens their work."

Opposition: "Without farmers there is no future"

But the pace of aid has become a political issue. SDSM, through Executive Board member Tanja Ilijoska, accused the government from the Strumica fields of "announcing assessments instead of taking action" and demanded an urgent government session on compensation.

"Without farmers, there is no domestic production, nor a future for Macedonian agriculture," Ilijoska said.

Meanwhile, all Skopje municipalities are forming damage assessment commissions where citizens can report damages, to be followed by expert assessments and payouts from the City of Skopje's solidarity fund. Mayor Orce Gjorgjievski also announced enhanced inspections of all buildings with damaged roofs. The Hydrometeorological Service warns that unstable weather will continue — and for thousands of families and farms, the real battle is only beginning: the one with the administration, for every denar of compensation.