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Storm alert issued in Kamchatka territory as heavy cyclone approaches

Weather forecasters warn that the impact of the cyclone will be getting stronger in the coming hours
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, November 27 (Itar-Tass) – Authorities in the Kamchatka territory have issued a storm alert as a cyclone with heavy snowfall, blizzards and gale is approaching the peninsula.

Spokespeople for the territorial Center for Hydrometeorology told Itar-Tass the atmospheric whirlwind that accumulated off the shores of Japan has already started affecting the southern districts of the peninsula, as gusts of wind of up to 23 meters per second have been registered in the southeast of Kamchatka.

A snow storm has begun in the regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, as well as in the Yelizovo and Ust-Bolsheretsk districts.

Weather forecasters warn that the impact of the cyclone will be getting stronger in the coming hours. Wind will likely reach the speed of a hurricane in the Ust-Bolsheretsk district in the southwest of the peninsula, with gusts of 28 to 33 meters per second expected.

In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, its speed will reach 25 to 28 meters per second.

Although a gradual improvement of weather is expected in the southern parts of Kamchatka Wednesday, November 28, the cyclone will drift to the northern districts.

All the emergency services, including the territorial division of the Ministry for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense /EMERCOM/ have been placed on alert and have received an instruction to be ready for a response to possible emergencies.

The authorities have issued a recommendation to the people living in the districts affected by the storm to exercise caution and to stay within the boundaries of their population centers.

Tourists and hunters have been told to refrain from hiking and hunting in the mountains.

The cyclone has not affected the operation of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky airport so far and all the flights there are performed as scheduled.