While Skopje counts its fallen trees, the east of the country wakes up to an entirely different picture. In Štip, the fierce hurricane-strength wind tore off part of the roof structure of the Clinical Hospital - not some abandoned building, but the place people come to when things are hardest.

The consequences aren't abstract. Around 15 to 20 patients had to be moved from the orthopedics ward to other rooms because of the risk of water leaking in. Deputy director Biljana Eftimova assures that the sick are placed in dry spots with no leaks, and that orthopedics and intensive care are working at reduced capacity while the repairs last. In other words: the hospital functions, but with patching.

The damage isn't only in Štip. In Sveti Nikole, firefighters intervened several times - for grass fires and for fallen trees blocking the roads. In Probištip, the municipal crisis headquarters was activated, and crews are clearing the aftermath. Everywhere the same scene: institutions running after the storm instead of meeting it prepared.

And here comes the part that hurts most. Instead of a systematic damage assessment, the burden is shifted onto citizens. The Probištip municipality is calling on those affected to file the damage to their property and crops themselves - with a deadline of 24 July and a whole folder of documents: a request for inspection, a statement that the property is uninsured, a copy of an ID card, a transaction account, proof of ownership, photos of the damaged vehicles, repair estimates.

And at the end, the sentence that says it all: „Documentation submitted late or incomplete will not be considered." So a man whose roof the wind carried off is now running between counters, gathering papers and trying not to be late - in the hope of maybe getting something back. When the institution failed to stop the blow, the least it can do is not make it harder on the one who took it.