Emergency officials have issued a hurricane warning for five regions of the Russian Far East, warning residents to expect snow and rain storms, powerful gusts of wind and possible power outages.
The coastal storms are expected to sweep the Primorye, Sakhalin, Khabarovsk, Magadan and Jewish Autonomous regions early next week, the Far Eastern branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry said Friday in an online statement.
"Strong precipitation may cause disruptions in the functioning of crucial infrastructure, utilities systems, bring down electricity and communication lines, disrupt the work of all types of transportation, increase the amount of traffic accidents, including on highways of federal significance," the statement said.
The cyclone will bring winds of up to 15-20 meters per second along the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, before moving further north across the Khabarovsk and Magadan regions, the statement said.
Snow storms have already downed a number of power and telephone lines in parts of the Khabarovsk region and on Sakhalin Island earlier this week, though some of the services have been restored, the Interfax news agency reported, citing the Emergency Situations Ministry.
Winds reached up to 40 meters per second in parts of the Khabarovsk region earlier this week, while wet snow clung in clumps to power lines, causing them to snag, the report said, adding that no injuries have been reported.
