Heavy storm causes extreme winds as it hits Black Sea region

Severe storms in the Black Sea area have left one person dead and nearly half a million people without power in Crimea.

The storm caused flooding, uprooted trees, and brought down power lines, as RTVi reported.

The storms were part of a weather system that created blizzard-like conditions in Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria and Serbia on Sunday, causing blizzard-like conditions, snowfall, power outages, and traffic accidents.

In Russia, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium stopped crude oil loading at the Novorossiysk port due to adverse weather conditions, including winds of up to about 86 kilometres per hour and waves of up to 8 metres in height.

Several Crimean regions declared a state of emergency after it became the strongest recorded in the past 16 years with wind speeds reaching 144 kilometres per hour. Government offices, including schools and hospitals, were closed as strong winds continued throughout the day.