Four days after storm, thousands in Latvia still without power

Four days after a severe summer storm swept across Latvia, around 6,800 customers are still without electricity, grid operator Sadales tīkls told the LETA news agency on Thursday morning. The worst power supply disruptions are currently reported in the Aizkraukle, Jēkabpils and Bauska municipalities, where repair work continues.

The company said that by 6 a.m. on Thursday, August 27, power had been restored to roughly 98.5% of all customers originally affected by the storm. In total, 1,774 storm-related faults in the distribution grid have been fixed. More than 200 Sadales tīkls crews are still working on repairs, assisted by specialists from Estonian grid operator Elektrilevi, the State Fire and Rescue Service, and Latvia's State Forests.

Repeat outages possible

Sadales tīkls warned that once work on the medium-voltage network is completed, some residents may be told that power has been restored even though electricity is still not reaching their homes. This indicates a separate fault in the low-voltage network, which delivers electricity to individual buildings. In such cases, the company asks residents to submit a new report.

Repeat outages are also possible in areas where power has already been restored, as broken trees or branches may continue falling onto power lines, causing new faults.

Strongest summer storm in decades

The storm that struck Latvia on the evening and night of August 22 is described as the strongest summer storm the country has seen in recent decades, with wind gusts in places exceeding 30 metres per second. It caused extensive damage to both the distribution and transmission electricity networks, initially leaving about 277,000 customers across Latvia without power. The outages were in many places accompanied by disruptions to communications, fuel stations, and in some areas, shops.