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Strong cyclone raging over Sakhalin moves to the Kuriles

The cyclone affected Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Dolinsk, Kholmsk, Korsakov, Nevelsk and Aniva districts
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

VLADIVOSTOK, March 3 (Itar-Tass) – A strong cyclone, which was raging over the Sakhalin Island, finally went away to the Kuriles, leaving without electric power supplies 1,250 residential houses, in which about 12,000 people live, on Sakhalin. As many as 20 socially important facilities are also left without electric power supplies, the press service of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations reported on Sunday.

The cyclone affected Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Dolinsk, Kholmsk, Korsakov, Nevelsk and Aniva districts. Hurricane winds of up to 38 metres per second broke down the power lines at many places in the cyclone-affected settlements. Nine teams, including 25 emergency workers and nine units of machinery are involved in the restoration works.

The traffic was opened for all vehicles only on the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk-Korsakov highway in southern Sakhalin. The roads between the settlements Dolinsk-Vzmorye, Korsakov-Ozerskoye, Ogonki-Nevelsk remain snow-stricken strongly, and the traffic is closed on them. As many as 66 bulldozers, graders and other snowploughs are involved in the cleanup of the roads.

The cyclone, which had been raging for more than a day, has blocked the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk airport for this period of time. Over 40 Russian domestic and international arrivals and departures were delayed at the airport. But it was already reported that the airport will receive the first airliner on Sunday evening.

The storm, which the natural disaster triggered in the Tatar Strait, subsided, and the Vanino-Kholmsk ferry line resumed its operation. The first ferryboat Sakhalin-10 set out from the mainland to Sakhalin. Another three ferryboats, which are constantly operational on the Vanino-Kholmsk ferry line, are getting ready for ferry trips to the island.

The snowfall in southern Sakhalin created a high avalanche hazard in the Dolinsk, Makarovsky, Tomarinsky, Kholmsk, Nevelsk, Aniva districts and near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Meanwhile, no emergency situations related with the cyclone were reported on Sakhalin over the past day.