Lithuania declares nationwide emergency after severe storm damage

Lithuania's government declared a nationwide "extreme situation" on Wednesday in response to a severe storm that struck over the weekend, leaving widespread damage across the country's agricultural sector. Agriculture Minister Kęstutis Mažeika told a government meeting that the goal is to give real support to farming businesses unable to meet their obligations because of the exceptional circumstances, while also enabling an appeal to the European Commission and the use of state reserve funds to offset or reduce losses.

Crop and livestock damage

Preliminary assessments show western Lithuania was hit hardest, with 30% to 60% of crops damaged in some areas. In total, roughly 56,000 hectares or more of farmland may have been affected. Bean growers alone could face losses of about 150,000 euros. Separately, a poultry farm reported that 30,000 broiler chickens died after a power outage, resulting in losses of around 400,000 euros.

Orchards were also affected: preliminary data from the Panevėžys district show at least 100 hectares of orchards damaged, with trees knocked down by the storm. Power outages disrupted livestock and poultry farms as well, cutting off water supplies, ventilation systems, and refrigeration and storage for feed and other agricultural products. Mushroom growers reported losing entire harvests after outages disrupted their operations.

Assessment complicated by outages

Mažeika said that disruptions to communications and internet service have made it difficult to fully gauge the scale of the damage. As individual stations come back online, authorities continue to receive fresh reports of losses from affected regions. Four municipalities have already declared local states of emergency, though storm damage has been recorded in other districts as well.

The nationwide declaration comes as authorities continue restoring electricity and assessing the storm's broader impact, after hundreds of thousands of customers were left without power across Lithuania over the weekend.