The „Boris Trajkovski” sports center woke up closed today. At the entrance to the pool stand a barrier and a sheet of paper with just three words: „The pool is closed.” Behind that sentence stands yesterday's storm, which with hurricane strength damaged the building's roof structure.

The center's management announced that the damage is serious: „Due to the weather conditions that struck Skopje yesterday, major material damage was done to the pool's roof and it will not be operational.” Besides the roof, two side windows were also broken. Director Daniel Apostolovski pointed out that a precise damage assessment is still being determined, but the main damage is to the roof structure.

The timing of the closure is especially unfavorable. The pool was supposed to run all summer, and an autumn renovation had already been planned for later. Instead, mid-summer, the people of Skopje are left without one of the few public pools - just when the temperatures and the need for it are at their highest.

Of course, a wind of 130 kilometers an hour doesn't choose what it damages, and no one claims the management could have prevented the blow. But the closed „Boris Trajkovski” pool is one more reminder of something broader: how easily our public infrastructure falls when nature pushes harder. The question isn't whether the roof will be repaired - it's how long the repair will take, and whether next summer the pool will be open again or stand once more with a sheet of paper on the door.