Latvia's strongest storm in 20 years kills one, cuts power to hundreds of thousands
Latvia's fire and rescue service received nearly 1,900 emergency calls over storm damage between Saturday and Sunday morning, one person died in Jelgava, and about 277,000 households were left without electricity.
An unusually powerful storm swept across Latvia from Saturday midday into Sunday morning, prompting the State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) to receive 1,876 calls to the 112 emergency line — roughly 300 more than during a comparable period in the summer of 2024. Riga and the surrounding region, including Jurmala, along with Latgale and Zemgale, saw the highest numbers of reports.
On Saturday evening in Jelgava, a person died after a building's structure collapsed. In the Bauske municipality, a firefighter was injured while clearing storm damage, and in the Aizkraukle municipality a person was hit by a falling tree. Rescuers saved two people elsewhere — one trapped in a container after a tree fell on it, another from a home hit by several fallen trees.
Extra crews deployed, residents urged to stay home
To cope with the surge in calls, VUGD set up ten additional crews overnight across several municipalities in Latgale and Zemgale and brought in extra dispatchers. The service urged residents to stay home on Sunday and avoid going out to view the damage, warning that weakened trees can collapse unexpectedly even after the wind subsides.
Fallen trees still block many roads across the country, slowing both traffic and rescuers' access to people needing help. Residents were asked to report non-urgent tree damage to local municipalities and power outages to grid operator Sadales tikls, reserving 112 calls for genuine threats to life or blocked traffic.
Worst power outages in two decades
The storm caused the most extensive power disruptions in the past 20 years, with about 277,000 customers of distribution operator Sadales tikls without electricity as of Sunday morning. Several high-voltage lines were damaged and dozens of substations affected. Crews are working around the clock, though the companies warned that restoring power to some customers could take several days. Wind gusts near Riga reached 31 meters per second, and forecasters expect strong wind and rain to continue into Sunday.
