Fire service still fielding storm-related calls, warns of falling branches

Latvia's State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) says it is still receiving calls related to damage caused by last weekend's storm. By Tuesday morning, a total of 3,347 reports had been logged with the 112 emergency number.

Although the number of new calls has dropped significantly, reports continue to come in from all regions of the country. Over the past 24 hours, 267 new reports were received – most in Riga (140 new cases) and the wider Riga region (58). Zemgale logged 34 new reports, Latgale 19, Vidzeme 12, and Kurzeme four.

In total, Riga has recorded the most reports (1,164), followed by the Riga region with 860 (including 243 in Jurmala), Latgale with 496 (165 in Daugavpils, 78 in Augšdaugava municipality), Zemgale with 450 (107 in Jelgava and its municipality, 95 in Jēkabpils municipality), Kurzeme with 203, and Vidzeme with 174.

Warning about damaged trees

Even after the wind has died down, VUGD is urging residents to remain cautious, since trees may still have broken branches or damaged trunks that could fall unexpectedly. The service is advising people to stay away from damaged or leaning trees, broken branches, and damaged power lines or downed wires.

Over the past day, firefighters also responded to other incidents, including a fire on Brīvības Avenue in Riga, where the ground floor of an unmanaged three-story building burned across an area of 50 square meters. Seventeen firefighters with four fire engines and one ladder truck worked at the scene. Crews also responded to fires involving garbage, a power line pole, a building roof, and unattended food left burning.

The storm that struck Latvia on Saturday night was the strongest summer storm in recent decades, with wind speeds in some areas exceeding 30 meters per second. It caused extensive damage to the power grid, initially cutting electricity to around 277,000 customers. By Monday morning, about 87,000 customers across the country were still without power.