American Rival Sees Building Entrances Blocked, Cars Buried After Biggest Snowstorm In Decades Strikes

The heaviest snowfall in six decades has blanketed Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East, resulting in enormous snowdrifts several feet high that have sealed off building entrances and buried vehicles, as documented by Reuters imagery and weather monitoring stations. In certain locations, more than 6.5 feet of snow accumulated during the first half of January alone, following an already staggering 12 feet that fell throughout December, according to data from the monitoring stations. Photographs from Reuters captured cars submerged almost entirely beneath the deep snowpack, with four-wheel-drive vehicles either spinning their wheels in vain or rendered immobile by the massive walls of snow. Residents have had no choice but to shovel out pathways just to reach the doors of their apartment complexes. Photographer Lydmila Moskvicheva, located in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, said the car has been parked in a snowdrift for a month. Footage showed people walking atop towering snowdrifts that rose level with traffic lights and enormous mounds of snow lining roadways.