Finland hammered by powerful storms- 200,000 residents suffer power outages

December 29, 2011 – FINLAND – A record number of households had to spend the night without electricity in the aftermath of Monday’s powerful storm. Up to 200,000 thousand people are suffering from power cuts, as new storm winds caused more damage. While the country’s southern and western areas were hit hardest on Monday, Tuesday’s storm has moved east. In northern Karelia, about 30,000 households were without electricity, while nearly 40,000 households in the Savo region had lost power. Northern Ostrobothnia and central Finland also suffered power cuts on Tuesday. Energy companies Fortum and Vattenfall say that repairs will likely last for days, especially when it comes to sparsely populated areas. Karoliina Lehmusvirta, Manager for Communications in Fortum’s Electricity Distribution unit told YLE News that the storm hit the network unusually hard. While Fortum cleared trees downed by Monday’s storm off power lines, more fallen trees were taking their place, as the winds continued to rage on Tuesday. “It is very likely that some of our customers won’t get electricity back for some days—and it may even be weeks for some. It is partly because our network has been destroyed so completely that that we need to build some parts of it up and get it running again,” Lehmusvirta explained. In addition to Fortum and Vattenfall, a number of smaller energy companies have reported power cuts. They advise people to stay clear of downed power lines as they may still be live and pose a danger of fatal electric shock. Under no circumstances should these lines be touched. –YLE

contribution by Yamkin