Storm leaves more than 111,000 Lithuanian consumers without power

More than 111,000 electricity consumers were still without power on Monday after a severe storm swept across Lithuania on Saturday, LRT reported. At the height of the storm, outages affected 268,000 consumers.

The worst-affected areas include the Utena and Vilnius districts, where residents Irena and Ilona Jarecka live. Both families lost electricity, water and communications and were told by electricity distributor ESO that power could take until August 29 to restore.

Jarecka, who lives in Karveliškės in the Vilnius district, had been planning to celebrate her name day with guests on Saturday. She had bought fresh fish, meat and other food, but the electricity went out at about 2 p.m. and had not returned by Monday.

The family had a generator, gas, water supplies and charged power banks. However, the generator requires constant refuelling. When LRT spoke to Jarecka on Monday, it had just stopped because the fuel had run out.

“I will put the children in the car, take the canisters and drive to Vilnius to the petrol station again,” Jarecka said. She estimated that running the generator continuously costs the family about 100 euros a day in fuel alone.

The generator powers the freezer, refrigerator and lights, but not the washing machine, dishwasher or electric kettle. “As soon as I switch on the kettle, the electricity immediately goes out,” she said.

The family’s biggest problem is water. Their water pump also runs on electricity, so they collect water from a pond near their home in buckets for the toilet and other household needs.

With no normal way to cook, the family has been preparing some food over a fire and trying to eat products before they spoil. Irena’s family in the Utena district has faced similar difficulties after the storm.