Storm winds topple trees and flood Palanga beach

Strong winds toppled trees in parts of Lithuania and flooded Palanga beach, while about 3,000 electricity customers were without power late Friday afternoon, LRT reported, citing BNS.

At 2 p.m., wind gusts reached 27 metres per second at Ventė Cape, 23 m/s in Šilutė and 21 m/s in Šventoji, Šumskas in Vilnius district and Kybartai.

Fire and rescue services received more than 20 calls about wind damage, mostly in Klaipėda County. Crews cleared trees from roads, cars and power lines. In Klaipėda, one tree fell on three cars. Electricity network operator ESO said most outages were in the Kaunas region, with disruptions also reported in the Marijampolė, Panevėžys and Šiauliai regions. Repairs were taking an average of less than two hours.

Shipping in Klaipėda port remained restricted because of the strong wind, and one vessel was waiting to enter. The port authority said the westerly wind was reaching 19 m/s and could strengthen to 24 m/s. Earlier, waves were reported at between 4 and 6.9 metres.

Videos shared by residents showed waves flooding Palanga beach and reaching the edge of the dunes. The Rąžė stream also overflowed its banks in Palanga.