Latvia expects to restore all household power by Saturday

Latvia’s electricity distribution operator, Sadales tīkls, expects to restore power to all households by the weekend, LSM reported. The company’s board chair, Sandis Jansons, said on Latvian Radio’s Afternoon programme that crews were continuing restoration work.

About 2,500 households were without electricity on Friday morning, falling to around 2,000 by the afternoon.

The most difficult work is in Sēlija, where last week’s storm caused the most damage and crews must cut down a particularly large number of fallen trees.

Jansons urged households to check whether power had actually been restored after receiving a text message confirming the repair. Additional problems may remain in the low-voltage network near homes, and Sadales tīkls will record and investigate each reported case.

Further work to continue next week

Sadales tīkls crews will continue repairing and organising the network next week. This could result in temporary power outages caused by damaged trees or other issues, Jansons said.

Some Sadales tīkls employees are also expected to soon help colleagues in Lithuania, where around 30,000 households remain without electricity after the storm, he said.

Some households have been without power for six days

In some parts of Latvia, residents have been without electricity for a sixth day following the storm. The situation is most difficult in Aizkraukle municipality, where around 300 households remain without power.

Municipal officials visited affected residents on Friday. In Broknēs, in Seces parish about 20 kilometres from Aizkraukle, they brought a large family two bags of food, several bottles of water and a battery for charging telephones.

The household has been without electricity since Sunday.