Estonia downgrades storm warnings as rain and wind persist
The storm that hit Estonia on Saturday is easing, with warnings downgraded on Sunday even as heavy rain and wind continue in parts of the country. The same storm also struck Latvia and Lithuania, flooding roads and cutting power to hundreds of thousands of households.
A powerful storm that struck Estonia on Saturday brought heavy rain, strong winds, fallen trees, power outages and disrupted ferry services, but conditions began easing by Sunday. The Level 2 warning was downgraded to Level 1 across western and southern Estonia on Sunday morning, while eastern counties — including Ida-Viru, Lääne-Viru, Järva, Jõgeva and Tartu — were no longer under any warning at all.
Despite the improvement, heavy rain was still forecast for Sunday morning, with totals reaching up to 90 millimeters in some areas over 24 hours — roughly equal to Estonia's typical average rainfall for the whole of August, usually its wettest month. Saturday's wind gusts reached up to 30 meters per second, and rescue services responded to reports of trees falling on roads and power lines.
Power outages affected around 3,410 households on Saturday evening, a number that dropped to about 2,600 by Sunday morning, with roughly half concentrated in southeastern Estonia. The heavy rainfall also strained Tallinn's sewage and drainage system, prompting the water utility Tallinna Vesi to advise residents to clear gutters, avoid parking in flood-prone spots and cut back on water use during the downpours. A utility official warned against directing stormwater into the sewer system and urged people to steer clear of flooded basements and manholes because of electrocution risks.
Ferry services, which had faced cancellations during the storm, resumed on schedule Sunday morning on the Rohuküla–Heltermaa route, with no changes expected on the Virtsu–Kuivastu route either.
The same storm system also affected Latvia and Lithuania. Latvia issued its own storm warning, canceled outdoor events and saw flooding on several roads, including areas beneath viaducts in Riga where traffic was disrupted. In Lithuania, media reported at least one death after a falling tree struck a person, while more than 150,000 households lost power.
