MOSCOW, December 13 (Sputnik) — Heavy storm winds reaching southwest Estonia Friday evening left about 18,000 homes in the southwest of the country without power by mid-afternoon Saturday, local media have reported, citing Elektrilevi, the country’s main electric power provider.
Hardest hit were the county of Parnu, which borders the Baltic Sea, the county of Viljandi, and Saaremaa Island, situated in the Baltic Sea. Estonian meteorologists estimated wind speeds reaching up to 78 miles per hour in some areas.
The storm reached the country’s capital of Tallinn by the middle of the day Saturday before moving on toward Russia’s Leningrad and Novgorod regions, including the city of St. Petersburg, which experienced heavy winds between 45-56 miles per hour. The storm winds are said to have originated off the British Isles before traveling through the Baltic Sea toward the Gulf of Finland toward northern Russia.
Estonia’s Road Administration department advised drivers to stay at home unless absolutely necessary, and to park vehicles as far as possible away from trees. Many roads in the affected regions are covered with trees and branches, along with rain and snow which have formed patches of black ice, local media have said.
Elektrilevi has said that it has about 120 brigades of repairmen working to rectify the power outage as quickly as possible
Despite the intensity of the storm, meteorologists said that it had turned out to be less powerful than they expected.
