Nausėda says storm exposed Lithuania’s weak points

Saturday’s storm exposed Lithuania’s vulnerabilities and showed what needs to be improved to reduce future losses, President Gitanas Nausėda said, according to LRT.

“We saw where the weak points are,” Nausėda told journalists at the presidential palace. He said battery solutions had not always proved effective and that more funding and attention should be devoted to ensuring that those who need or want them can obtain electricity generators.

He said this would help reduce problems with electricity supply and communications, which are also essential for petrol stations to operate and provide fuel.

Nausėda said he hoped all services were working effectively to deal with the storm’s aftermath. He said the issue had been discussed at a meeting with Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius.

The president said the state must prepare for possible natural disasters so that their consequences could be dealt with more quickly and cause as little inconvenience to residents as possible.

He said the Energy Distribution Operator, known as ESO, was making significant efforts to restore services and expressed hope that the process would be completed this week. Nausėda also said that any compensation provided for residents’ inconvenience would be paid.

The government on Wednesday declared a state-level emergency after the storm left some residents and businesses without electricity and farmers calculating their losses. The decision followed a proposal from the Ministry of Agriculture.

Tens of thousands of ESO customers were still without electricity on Wednesday, while mobile communications had also been disrupted. Operators said most of the network had already been restored.

The storm brought down trees in many parts of Lithuania, killing one person and injuring four others. Electricity supplies were disrupted for more than 268,000 consumers.