Latvian fire service logs record number of call-outs after powerful storm

Latvia's State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) received 3,080 call-outs over 34 hours, the largest number of registered incidents since this kind of statistics collection began, service chief Mārtiņš Baltmanis told reporters after a Crisis Management Council meeting.

Where most calls came from

The heaviest load was in Riga and the wider Riga region, with more than 1,000 and more than 800 call-outs respectively. Latgale region received nearly 500 call-outs, Zemgale around 400, while Vidzeme and Kurzeme each recorded fewer than 200. Among larger cities, Jūrmala, Jelgava, Jēkabpils and Daugavpils saw the most call-outs.

Casualties

One person died during the storm and three others were injured, including two firefighters. Latvia's Emergency Medical Service treated 14 people for storm-related injuries.

Most of the incidents VUGD registered involved clearing broken trees from roadways, while some call-outs concerned trees that had fallen onto buildings or infrastructure.

Preparation and cleanup

Baltmanis said that once the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre warned of the approaching heavy rain and storm, VUGD maintained close contact with the centre and the Ministry of Climate and Energy, coordinating information exchange and resource deployment. Volunteer firefighters, the National Guard and the private sector have also joined efforts to restore infrastructure and clear storm damage.

The storm, described as the strongest summer storm to hit Latvia in recent decades, struck on Saturday and through the following night, with wind speeds locally exceeding 30 metres per second. It caused extensive damage to the electricity distribution and transmission networks, initially cutting power to around 277,000 customers nationwide. By Monday morning, roughly 87,000 customers across Latvia were still without power.