Translated material
Snowdrift for an hour
The heaviest snowfall since the beginning of the year resulted in flooding of Moscow streets
The heaviest snowfall since the beginning of the year, which hit Moscow last weekend, reminded residents of the capital that it is still winter on the calendar. And although the thermometer in the center of Russia has been gravitating towards positive values for almost a week, snowdrifts that appeared literally overnight forced residents of the Moscow region to take up shovels, and Moscow car enthusiasts to take up brushes and scrapers. Utility workers had to mobilize almost all available equipment and street cleaners onto the city streets. According to the Department of Housing, Communal Services and Improvement of Moscow, more than 9 thousand units of equipment and 50 thousand utility workers were involved in clearing the streets of snow over the weekend.But this entire “communal army” would hardly have quickly coped with the consequences of the snowfall, because on Saturday alone the snow cover grew by almost 15 cm. The second snow “charge” that fell on Sunday was slightly less powerful - in different areas of the city fell from 5 to 10 cm. However, the weather in the capital region was surprisingly capricious - snow was replaced by rain, and a sharp increase in temperature to above-zero values contributed to the rapid melting of the snow. As a result, a significant part of the sediment was simply washed away, crushed by wheels or melted. Although more than 220 thousand cubic meters of snow passed through snow melting points.
True, the rapid melting created a new problem - the capital's storm sewers, which do not perform their duties well even during summer rains, caused a lot of trouble for motorists and utility workers. Flooding was noticed even on a number of large streets: on Kashirskoye Highway, Sevastopol Avenue, Entuziastov Highway.
On the streets, where the traffic flow was not so intense, ice formed, which affected the increase in the number of minor accidents. Moscow drivers remembered that traffic jams can occur in the city even on weekends, and traffic police inspectors were torn trying to process all the accidents - the wait for a patrol on Saturday sometimes lasted 5-6 hours. There were also major incidents - in the Moscow region, due to poor visibility and ice, several major accidents were recorded, killing more than ten people. Traffic inspectors can only helplessly ask drivers to refrain from traveling if possible.