Hurricane-Force Storm Batters Soviet Region
A storm with hurricane-force winds hit the northern Russian city of Murmansk, wrecking scores of buildings and disrupting communications, the official Soviet news agency Tass reported Thursday.
Tass did not say if there were any casualties in Murmansk, which is the base for the Soviet northern fleet.
In a brief report, it said the hurricane struck the Kola Peninsula and nearby areas, including Murmansk, Wednesday night and lasted almost 15 hours, destroying buildings, interrupting transport and cutting off electricity.
Tass said the winds raged at 94 m.p.h. in the peninsula and up to 74 m.p.h. in Murmansk, one of the Soviet Union’s most northerly cities.
The region’s residents were alerted to the danger in time, the agency said. “Urgent steps were taken by party and local government bodies” to repair the damage caused by the storm, it added.
Tass said such storms are not a rare occurrence for the Kola Peninsula, but it added, “As a rule they are usually not so strong.” It did not elaborate.
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