One woman killed, two dozen people injured as storm hits Sakhalin island

A woman aged 61 was killed after the wind ripped the slates off the roof of her banya - or sauna. An 11 year old child was hospitalised with winds reaching 45 metres a second and severe flooding elsewhere. 

The toll from the storms included damage to more than 300 roofs, and huge damage to trees. Spectacular pictures showed high waves pounding the island in the Russian Far East.  

Sakhalin governor Oleg Kozhemyako had to leave the Black Sea resort of Sochi to take charge of the emergency. 'An emergency regime has been imposed in Yuzhno-Sakhalink and Korsakovsky and Dolinsky urban districts,' said an official. 

Some 2,000-plus people - and 38 teams - were helping restore normality after the cyclone.