Heavy snow storm plays havoc with Lviv. Photo

October15200908:24

Electric city transport had to stop in the morning hours of Oct. 14 because of repeated cut-offs of electricity and trees branches which fell due to a heavy layer of snow, damaging the wires and blocking the roads and tracks.

Snow plugged the city sewage system, leaving the streets flooded and making many them impassable to cars and pedestrians in low-lying areas of Lviv.

Because of failing electricity supplies city utility companies could not pump water to rayons Frankivsky, Lychakivsky, Sykhivsky and Halytsky. Water supply in other parts of Lviv has been cut to the minimum, with officials unable to say when it will be resumed.

Pumping of oil to Europe has also been stopped due to electricity cut-offs

Meanwhile, the weather is going to worsen in the next 2 days, with icing of the roads and overhead electrical wires, gusts of wind of up to 15-20 m/sec, temperatures dropping to minus 8 at night and 0-5 at daytime.

Bad weather has left its mark on other Ukraine regions, with electricity cut-offs reported in towns and cities of 12 oblasts, the ministry for emergencies press service reports.

Of these, electricity supplies have been cut in 613 towns of the Lviv oblast, 242 in the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, 116 in the Rivne oblast, 58 in the Ternopil oblast, 54 in the Volyn oblast, and 8 in the Kyiv oblast.