Storm leaves 6,800 Latvian households without power

About 6,800 households in Latvia remained without electricity on Thursday morning after the weekend storm, LSM reported. By 6 a.m., power had been restored to about 98.5% of customers affected by the storm, and 1,774 faults in the electricity distribution network had been repaired.

More than 200 crews from electricity distribution company Sadales tīkls are working to restore service, along with seven crews from Estonia’s distribution system operator Elektrilevi. The company is also cooperating with the State Fire and Rescue Service and specialists from Latvijas Valsts meži.

Sadales tīkls is using drones to inspect damaged power lines and identify faults more quickly. The largest remaining power outages are in the Aizkraukle, Jēkabpils and Bauska municipalities. Full restoration for customers affected by the storm is planned by Friday.

The company said that after repairs to the medium-voltage network, residents may receive information that their electricity has been restored even though power has not yet returned to their homes. This may indicate damage to the low-voltage network, which delivers electricity directly to homes. Residents are asked to register a new service request in such cases; this does not mean that the work has been postponed.

Further outages may also occur after power is restored because broken trees or branches can continue falling onto power lines and cause new faults.

The storm that hit Latvia during the night of August 23 was the strongest summer storm recorded since at least 1966, when full observations of wind gusts in Latvia began. Power was disrupted for about 277,000 households on Sunday morning, and some parts of Latvia went without electricity for several days.