Storm in the Black Sea causes damage in Ukraine
A storm over the Black Sea has caused severe damage on the Ukrainian coast, on the Russian-occupied Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and in southern Russia. According to "Ukrajinska Pravda", a 110-meter-high chimney of a combined heat and power plant collapsed in the port city of Odessa on Monday night due to the snowstorm. Several power lines were cut and substations failed. According to official figures, almost 150,000 households in the area were still cut off from the power supply on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, the heating supply has been restored after the heating plants in Odessa were also shut down for hours on Sunday due to the power fluctuations.
The Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which Russia has annexed since 2014, was also hit hard. According to media reports, seven people were injured and a 50-year-old man was swept into the sea by the waves and drowned. The governor of the region, Sergei Aksyonov, appointed by Moscow, declared a state of emergency. "At the moment, 425,000 people are still without power," he admitted on his Telegram channel on Monday. Roads had to be closed due to fallen trees and the persistent snowfall. There was flooding in several cities.
The port city of Sevastopol suffered particularly severe damage, including the deaths of 800 animals from the local aquarium due to flooding. The storm tore the roofs off 42 houses in the city. Several vehicles, including a public bus, were damaged by falling trees.
In the southern Russian region of Krasnodar, the KTK oil terminal in Novorossiysk had to shut down due to the storm. A lot of Kazakh oil is shipped to the west via the terminal. Meanwhile, a bulk carrier was pushed onto a sandbank off the city of Anapa. Salvage has so far been impossible due to the poor weather conditions. The storm also covered houses in many coastal towns in the region. The railroad between Tuapse and Adler had to suspend operations, as did the airport in Sochi.
The intense weather conditions, specifically the storm, continued to wreak havoc, leading to the collapse of additional power lines and substations in affected areas. The wind and snow storm persisted, causing further damage, including flooding in several cities.
Source: www.dpa.com
