In total, around 400 municipal and public buildings in Riga have been identified as potential shelters. The survey is still ongoing.
Riga's Deputy Mayor Linda Ozola (Code for Riga) said that there are plans to mark 134 municipally-owned sites with shelter signs in the near future.
"According to the State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD), the municipality has at its disposal premises that can provide temporary shelter for up to 50,000 people in an emergency. At the same time, we are planning to approve later this year a real estate tax rebate mechanism for merchants who will be ready to apply and offer their premises as safe shelters, such as underground car parks, warehouses, and similar facilities," said Ozola.
Green signs will be installed at buildings whose basements and cellars have been assessed by the VUGD as fully or partially suitable for shelter purposes and will be publicly accessible during a threat.
These areas will not be open to the public on a daily basis.
How big these shelters are and what they look like depends on the building. However, the State Fire and Rescue Service guidelines state that a shelter should be 0.75 square meters per person.
It is estimated that the basement of the kindergarten "Dzilniņa" could temporarily house a little more than 80 people for up to 2 hours. The municipality also plans to provide necessities, such as folding beds, which are currently on order.
"A temporary bed plus dishes and other things. Well, that's what it should look like for a long-term stay," said Gints Reinsons, Chief of the Riga Civil Protection and Operational Information Department. So far, the shelters do not have food supplies, water reserves, enough beds and other things, as they can only be occupied for a few hours. The municipality's representative also added that long-term shelters should have a "dual use" - something must happen in them on a daily basis, such as being used as utility rooms.
However, the kindergarten in question has more young pupils than the shelter space. Those who do not have enough space could take shelter in the basement of the adjacent building, which also received the shelter label. The basement has been cleaned, and both water and electricity are available.
The house has a total of 3 shelter places and could shelter about 1,500 people in an emergency, which is 3 times the number of people living in the house.
The municipality explained that the shelters, or places to seek safe shelter in the event of a threat, are designed to mitigate the effects of a blast shock wave, debris, thermal radiation or radioactive contamination. They may be created and installed in the basements or underground levels of various structures. Safe shelters should be located close to the population's residences in order to ensure that people reach the shelter as soon as possible after being informed of the threat.
Work on identifying shelters and installing signs could be completed within the next year.
To be informed in the event of a disaster, people are encouraged to use the State Fire and Rescue Service's application "112 Latvija", which will be one of the systems to alert people in the event of military threats and war. It is also possible that in the future this application will show people the shelters closest to them.
