Power cuts, roads closed as rainstorm ravages Estonia

TALLINN, 9. jan, BNS - A severe rainstorm that continued in Estonia on Sunday had paralyzed life in many coastal areas and caused power cuts at about a quarter of the substations of the national electricity company Eesti Energia.
Water level in the Bay of Tallinn had risen about 1.5 meters above the Kronstadt gauge and officials said water could rise by as much as one meter more. The seaside Rohuneeme road in Viimsi area just outside Tallinn was closed, with officials saying that a further one-meter rise in water level would flood the Pirita road and bring water onto the streets in the area of Tallinns passenger port.

No areas were flooded in Tallinn as of noon but spokespeople for Tallinna Vesi, the citys water company, said emergency teams with bags of sand were at standby

If in normal circumstances about 5,000 cubic meters of water passes through the Paljassaare sewage treatment facility per hour, the volume had risen to 27,000 cubic meters by Sunday morning.

A number of boat departures on the Tallinn-Helsinki route were rescheduled or canceled. According to the storm warning issued by the Tallinn weather station waves in the Gulf of Finland were from 8 to 12 meters high.

In the seaside town of Parnu in southwestern Estonia some of the streets near the sea were flooded up to the city center.

In the western Laane county roads were flooded in coastal areas, including in the regional capital Haapaslu, where 50 people had been evacuated. Water level in Haapsalu and in the port of Virtsu had risen by almost two meters.

Spokespeople for Eesti Energia said there were power cuts in many areas of Estonia and that the nearly 100 emergency crews working on Sunday just managed to keep the situation stable, risking their lives as they were working in heavy wind.

The weather report said winds on Estonias northern coast were blowing up to 22 meters per second, and up to 23 meters per second in Parnu and in the countrys southwest. Winds up to 33 meters per second were forecast until early afternoon, while in the evening the speed of wind was forecast to drop to 17-18 meters per second. The highest water level in the Bay of Parnu was 265 cm above the Kronstadt gauge and in Tallinn 152 cm above the gauge.

In the ski resort of Otepaa events of the second day of the cross-country skiing World Cup stage were canceled because of weather.

Baltic News Service