Strong winds cut power to 3,000 and flood Palanga beach

Strong winds left about 3,000 electricity customers without power by late Friday afternoon and sent Baltic Sea waves over Palanga beach, LRT reported, citing BNS.

The largest number of power outages was in the Kaunas region, while disruptions were also reported in the Marijampolė, Panevėžys and Šiauliai regions. Crews from electricity distributor ESO and its contractors were working to restore service, which the company said it usually does in less than two hours.

Wind gusts recorded at 2 p.m. reached 27 metres per second at Ventės Cape, 23 m/s in Šilutė and 21 m/s in Šventoji, Šumskas in the Vilnius district and Kybartai. ESO had deployed about 200 of its own and contractor crews across the country, compared with around 60 on a typical day, and was preparing additional teams for the weekend.

Falling trees caused most of the emergency calls, according to the Fire and Rescue Department. In Klaipėda, a tree fell on three cars. Calls were also recorded in the Kaunas, Panevėžys and Šiauliai regions.

Shipping in the Port of Klaipėda remained restricted because of the strong wind, and one vessel was waiting to enter. A port authority representative said westerly winds were reaching 19 m/s and could strengthen to 24 m/s. Earlier, waves at sea had reached heights of 4 to 6.9 metres.

Videos shared by residents showed waves flooding Palanga beach up to the dunes. The Rąžė stream in Palanga also overflowed its banks.