Tornado hits Russia's Bashkortostan region VIDEO

A tornado struck near the village of Urgunovo in Bashkortostan's Uchaly District, damaging power lines, cutting gas supplies to 10 homes and damaging several rooftops, local authorities have said.

In a post on Vkontakte, Ruslan Gilyazetdinov, head of the district administration, wrote that a state of heightened readiness had been introduced and recovery work was under way, Caliber.Az reports.

"A hurricane-force wind (tornado) passed through the area near the village of Urgunovo. The elements left their mark: due to damaged power lines, the village was temporarily left without electricity, gas supplies to 10 homes were cut off, and several roofs sustained damage," Gilyazetdinov noted.

A heightened readiness regime has been introduced in the district to allow utility and emergency crews to operate without interruption.

Most streets have already been reconnected to the power grid, while emergency teams from neighbouring districts are expected to arrive to speed up restoration efforts, he added.

According to Bashkirenergo, electricity supplies to Urgunovo are expected to be fully restored by the evening.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov