vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #559 / Special reports / Reading article...

A heavy snowstorm buried Vladivostok in piles of snow on Sunday halting the city’s traffic, disrupting airport and ferry services and bringing unexpected vacations for schoolchildren.

The officials declared a state of emergency engaging all the city’s services in clear-up efforts. However, the amount of snow is so huge that the city’s services are incapable of removing it all promptly with their own forces. Deputy Head of Vladivostok administration Yuri Koren urged students, private organizations and all citizens to help clear the streets.

The cyclone which hit the southern Primorye on Sunday brought about 70 millimeters of snow, or a three-month norm, making it an absolute record of snow precipitations in March in the past 100 years.

On Monday all schools were closed since the snowstorm continued through the day paralyzing all traffic. As of Tuesday public transportation has not yet resumed and many citizens have to walk to their work places. Schoolchildren continue enjoying the unexpected frosty vacations.

The Vladivostok airport remains closed and the information about possible resumption of flights will be available only after 4 p.m. local time Tuesday. The airfield is blanketed with thick piles of snow and the airport technical services are applying all efforts to clear it up as soon as possible.

The interrupted ferry connection between the region's islands may also resume no earlier than the evening of Tuesday.

The railways and adjoining territories are also being cleared up by the technical services and private companies directly dependant on the railway transportations.

Ambulances, who found themselves mostly vulnerable to the impassible roads, announced to the citizens their readiness to provide consultations over the telephone while their cars struggle their way to the patients.

It should be mentioned that however hard the snowstorm might be, no interruptions of water and electricity supplies were registered in Vladivostok during the two days. Meanwhile weather forecasters promise another cyclone coming to Primorye on March 10. It may bring a warm spell and much rain to the territory.