Hurricane force storm hits Novorossiysk

Monday night the Black Sea city of Novorossiysk, in the south of Russia, was hit by a hurricane with wind gusts reaching speeds of 40 meters per second, TASS reports.

A state of emergency was declared with emergency personnel warning of rough seas and the adverse weather continuing on Tuesday.

The authorities warned that there is a possibility of emergency situations arising related to the cliffs overlooking the city and power lines.

The ports and berthing facilities may be damaged and there is an increased danger of vessels being involved in accidents according to warnings by the press service of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry.