Crisis Management Centre head: Residents could have prepared better for storm aftermath
The head of Latvia's Crisis Management Centre, Arvis Zīle, says some residents could have better prepared for the consequences of a recent storm that caused power outages, adding that the state and municipalities must also draw lessons.
Arvis Zīle, head of Latvia's Crisis Management Centre, commented on the aftermath of a powerful storm that caused electricity supply disruptions and other damage across the country, in an interview with Latvian Radio.
According to Zīle, part of the population was not sufficiently prepared for the event and could have acted with more foresight to reduce the inconvenience caused by the storm. At the same time, he stressed that lessons from the incident must be learned not only by residents but also by state institutions and local governments, which need to assess their own response to the crisis situation.
Zīle's assessment came in the context of power supply interruptions that affected residents in several regions, along with other storm-related problems. His comments point to the need to improve both individual readiness for emergencies and the institutional response to consequences caused by natural disasters.
The Crisis Management Centre head did not specify concrete measures, but acknowledged that both the state and municipalities need to draw conclusions in order to be better prepared for similar weather-related challenges in the future.
