Storm kills one in Anykščiai district, leaves 110,000 without power

One person died after a tree fell on them in Anykščiai district during severe weather, while about 110,000 customers across Lithuania were left without electricity, LRT reported.

The Fire and Rescue Department confirmed that it received a report at 4:29 p.m. that a tree had fallen on a person in Mažionys village in Anykščiai district. The person died, department representative Jolita Orentaitė told BNS.

Rasa Jodkienė, a representative of Lithuania’s electricity distribution operator ESO, said the company’s website and telephone line were also experiencing disruptions because of heavy traffic. She urged people to report dangerous situations through the general emergency number 112.

“The figures on our ESO outage map no longer reflect reality because the servers could not withstand the flow of visitors,” Jodkienė told LRT radio.

She said the network had been damaged most severely in the Klaipėda region, while the largest number of customers without electricity were in the Alytus region, including Varėna, Lazdijai, Alytus district and nearby towns, villages and cities. The situation was also particularly difficult in and around Vilnius, Vilnius district and Šalčininkai.

About 400 people were responding to critical calls, but dangerous weather conditions were preventing them from carrying out most of the necessary work. Workers were identifying damaged parts of the network so repairs could begin more quickly once conditions improved.

ESO said 260 crews, comprising about 1,500 workers, would carry out repair work on Sunday.

The company urged residents to avoid approaching fallen power lines or attempting to fix problems themselves. It also advised people with generators to use them and check on nearby neighbours.

Heavy rain was reported in central Lithuania, including the Kėdainiai and Kaunas districts, as well as in Vilnius County. Severe rainfall was recorded in Šilutė.

Forecasters warned of strong rain and powerful wind gusts across Lithuania. Westerly gusts were expected to reach 18 to 23 metres per second in many areas, 24 to 27 metres per second in some places and up to 28 to 30 metres per second in others. Heavy, locally very heavy rain was forecast in western Lithuania, with up to 40 to 70 millimetres of rain possible over 24 hours.