The Lithuanian government has declared a nationwide emergency and four municipalities have declared local emergencies after a severe storm on 22-23 August 2026, BNS reported. Wind speeds reached up to 33 mps on the seaside and a month’s rain fell in 12 hours in some areas, according to the Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service (LHMT), BNS reported. The storm left 268,000 customers, or 600,000 people, without electricity, telecommunications services, and public transport, and damaged crops, livestock, and agricultural infrastructure, BNS reported. The worst-affected areas were in the Kaunas, Panevezys, Utena, and Vilnius counties. One person died and four were injured in the storm, ELTA reported.
Lithuanian Agriculture Minister Kestutis Mazeika said that the government’s declaration of an extreme situation would help farmers and other agricultural businesses meet their contractual obligations and allow the government to seek EU assistance and use state reserve funds to compensate for or reduce losses. According to a preliminary estimate, the storm may have damaged around 56,000 hectares or more of crops, Mazeika said. In some areas, particularly in western Lithuania, as much as 30-60% of crops were damaged. According to Swedbank, home insurance payouts due to natural disasters in the first months of 2026 have already exceeded the total sum for the whole year of 2025, BNS reported.
In southern Lithuania’s Kazlu Ruda, thousands of residents were left without electricity, water, heating, and mobile telecommunications services. The municipality sought assistance from the Lithuanian Armed Forces (LGP) to deliver food, water, and medical supplies to remote farms. Mantas Varaska, mayor of Kazlu Ruda, blasted President Gitanas Nauseda for lack of leadership and silence amid the emergency, Lietuvos Rytas reported. Varaska asserted that Nauseda, who was visiting Ukraine, appeared to be with the Ukrainian people, but not with the Lithuanian people. Meanwhile, Antanas Pocius, mayor of Panevezys, noted that local authorities had received no advance warning of the severity of the storm.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said that the storm had exposed long-standing structural problems in the country’s power infrastructure, BNS reported. He criticised the slow restoration of power supply to residents, ELTA reported. Energy Minister Lukas Savickas called for systemic changes and moving power cables underground faster. He also admonished power grid operator Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius (ESO) for the slow pace of repairs. Meanwhile, Darius Kuliesius, deputy council chairman of the Communications Regulatory Authority (RRT), noted that Lithuania lacked a resilient nationwide electronic communications network capable of withstanding major disruptions, LRT reported.