Officials warn against driving to find shelter during drone alerts

Lithuanian officials say people should seek the nearest safe place during a drone alert rather than drive to a designated shelter, after a family in Panevėžys spent time searching for one overnight. LRT reported that the family received a red air-raid alert after a drone entered Lithuanian airspace.

Vidmantas said he, his wife and their two-year-old child drove to the nearest shelter listed in the LT72.lt app, at the Aukštaitijos vandenys company, about three kilometres from home. They found its gates closed and continued to a police station on Beržų Street, about five kilometres away.

The red alert was sent to residents of Panevėžys district at 1.49am, according to the Fire and Rescue Department. When the family arrived at the police station, they heard a drone and saw it flying above the building, Vidmantas said. They could not find a shelter sign or an entrance.

At 2.05am, he called the emergency number 112 to ask how to enter the shelter. He said he was advised to call 1856, but an automated menu directed him to look for information online. The family waited outside for about five minutes, sheltering in a recess in the wall of a nearby brick building. They later reached the police station by intercom, and officers let them in.

Mindaugas Valaitis, a representative of the Fire and Rescue Department’s Civil Protection Board, said people receiving a red alert should not search outside their homes for buildings marked as shelters. Instead, they should move to the nearest safe place, where at least two windowless walls stand between them and the outside. An exterior wall with windows does not count as a protective barrier.

People should be able to reach a safe place within 1.5 to five minutes, Valaitis said. Going outside, moving between buildings or driving can increase the risk of injury from debris if a drone crashes, breaks apart or explodes.

After a yellow alert, residents should identify where they can go quickly if it turns red. Valaitis said they may also move to a safe place while the alert is yellow. If a home has a room protected by at least two walls, such as a basement, corridor or bathroom, it can be used for shelter. If reaching a designated shelter would require going outside and its proximity is uncertain, he said people should remain in a safe space at home.