Latvian government advances 14-point storm preparedness plan

Latvia’s government will prepare a 14-point action plan after discussing the consequences of the devastating storms of August 22 and 23, LSM.lv reported. The plan is intended to improve the preparedness of the public and private sectors, state institutions and residents for future large-scale crises.

The Crisis Management Centre will prepare a report on the proposed solutions and submit it for consideration at a Cabinet meeting.

The government discussed priority measures to strengthen the country’s resilience, critical infrastructure and society’s ability to respond to large-scale emergencies.

Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs of the United List said after the meeting that the focus should be on finding solutions rather than assigning blame.

“The main conclusion is that we are completely unprepared. A war has been going on next to us for four years, but we have lived in complete peace,” Kulbergs said at a news conference. He added that the private sector was also affected by the lack of crisis preparedness.

Kulbergs said the storm occurred during a fortunate period, at the weekend, in warm August weather. Experiencing a similar crisis in winter, at the height of the working day, would have been more difficult, he said.

He also noted that hospitals continued operating without electricity and praised electricity crews for dealing with more than 2,000 physical breaks in the network.

One of the main lessons, he said, was the need for a 72-hour period during which people and institutions could operate autonomously, with fuel reserves, ready generators and functioning communications. Residents had been particularly dissatisfied with communications during the storm, he said.

The proposed measures are intended to move Latvia from formal preparedness to resilience that has been practically tested and can function in real conditions. The main goal is to maintain essential services during future large-scale crises, ensure effective cooperation between institutions, provide reliable information and deliver timely assistance to residents.

Among the proposals discussed were requiring critical infrastructure and mobile communications nodes to operate autonomously for at least 24 hours, and introducing a crisis radio mode on Latvia’s public media, with regular updates and clear instructions for residents.