Emergency crews faced a race against time as fallen trees blocked roads and railways, while several communities reported tragic human losses.
Severe weather in Poland and the Baltic states caused widespread emergency power outages. Strong storms, gale-force winds, and fallen trees left hundreds of thousands of customers without electricity in Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. The extreme weather also resulted in fatalities and injuries.
Impact of the Storm in Poland
Stormy weather swept across northeastern Poland on Saturday. The PGE Dystrybucja operator reported power supply disruptions affecting approximately 145,000 customers.
The most difficult situation was in the Podlaskie Voivodeship near the Lithuanian border, where nearly 120,000 customers lost power. As of Sunday morning, more than 18,000 subscribers in the region remained without electricity.
Polish emergency services carried out around 850 callouts to deal with the aftermath of the severe weather. Three people were injured after trees fell onto two cars.
Power Outages in Lithuania and Latvia
In Lithuania, around 219,000 customers were without electricity on Sunday morning due to the severe weather. In the village of Mazionys, a tree fell on a person, killing them.
In Latvia, nearly 277 households remained without power. In Jelgava, one person died and another 14 were injured when a building collapsed.
Severe Weather Disrupted Rail Services
Estonian state railway company Elron warned passengers about possible delays to trains operating in the Lithuanian and Latvian directions. Traffic was disrupted by trees blown onto the tracks by strong winds between Riga and Valga.
The stormy weather also affected Belarus. Wind gusts there reached 27 metres per second, and some areas experienced power supply disruptions. Municipal and emergency services continued working to eliminate the consequences of the storm.
Hundreds of thousands of customers in Poland and the Baltic states were left without electricity due to severe weather