Residents of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky are recovering after the most severe snowfall and storm-force winds, brought by yet another powerful cyclone that hit the city.

Most city residents began their morning with futile attempts to leave their apartment building entrances. The snow that fell overnight trapped people in their homes, not only in private houses but also in apartment blocks. Some daring individuals were not afraid to leave their apartments through windows; others, armed with shovels, rushed into an unequal battle with the snowdrifts. But getting out of the entrance was only the beginning of the ordeal. Outside their apartments, people were met with unplowed roads, a complete absence of buses and taxis, shift buses passing once an hour, and minimal chances of getting to work. Yet people stubbornly made their way to their workplaces; medics, kindergarten teachers, and those unlucky enough not to be on the "remote worker" list waded through waist-deep snow to get to work. People got stuck in snowdrifts; one person had to be pulled out by rescuers—he was so deeply mired in the snow.

On the roads, people helped each other: traffic police vehicles "yanked out" stuck cars, motorists gave rides to random pedestrians, and concerned townspeople helped medics overcome snow dunes. Residents of the SRV district were especially unlucky, where an accident left several houses without water. From late at night and almost all day, water utility workers dealt with the emergency, thanks to which water returned to the homes in the Leninsky district by evening. During this time, a small avalanche came down in the center of Petropavlovsk, blocking traffic. Clearing it took a little over an hour. And only the young residents of the regional center and Yelizovsky district were happy with the bad weather, as the cyclone caused school classes to be canceled until the end of the week. And the "cherry on top"—tomorrow a new cyclone will approach the shores of Kamchatka. They promise it won't be as snowy.

Photo: RAI "KAMCHATKA-INFO"

Photos