About 10,000 residents still without power after storm in Lithuania

More than 90% of electricity customers in Lithuania have regained power after a major storm, but about 10,000 still have no electricity, ESO chief Renaldas Radvila said. The company counts 17,000 affected objects, though some use little or no power, leaving the estimated number of customers without electricity lower.

The Utena, Panevėžys and Kaunas regions remain the most difficult areas for repair. Radvila said the storm brought exceptionally strong winds and damaged the network most severely where wind speeds were highest.

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Today we have restored electricity supply to more than 90% of customers.

Repair crews have worked for more than a week, using almost all available capacity in Lithuania. A team of 11 Polish energy specialists, equipped with its own machinery, is helping restore the network in Marijampolė and Alytus.

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We really had a very major natural disaster, an irresistible force, and accordingly the regions with the highest wind speeds also have the most customers without electricity.

The storm recorded more than 9,000 network faults nationwide. In some places, power lines suffered such extensive damage that entire sections must be rebuilt. At the peak, more than 268,000 ESO customers were without electricity.

ESO plans to resolve all remaining outages by September 3. Private and business customers whose service took more than 72 hours to restore will receive compensation automatically. The company also said it would use a simplified process to compensate residents for direct storm damage. The government has declared a nationwide emergency over the storm's effects and farmers' reported losses.

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In Marijampolė and Alytus, an 11-person team from Poland is working, fully equipped with machinery and providing real help in restoring the network.