Fierce and howling winds at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics have led to safety concerns and thrown the alpine skiing schedule into disarray. The gusts, which reached up to 50 miles per hour, led the local government to issue emergency alerts on the Korean mobile phone network warning of fire dangers and flying debris — and asking people to secure any outdoor equipment or furniture. The strong winds meant that once again, U.S. skier Mikaela Shiffrin's first medal race in South Korea would be put off. Shiffrin, a favorite in the slalom — she won gold in that event in 2014 — is now slated to race that event on Friday. Her giant slalom race had already been moved to Thursday because of bad weather. As winds hurled snow and debris around on Wednesday afternoon, the sky sometimes looked as if a turbulent (and very dusty) storm cloud had descended upon the earth. Officials sent notice that all activities at Gangneung's Olympic Park were suspended "to ensure the safety of all personnel."
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