The Mayor of Jelgava did not predict how much damage had been caused to the city in monetary terms, as all the damage is still being identified.
"I don't want to say the amounts at the moment, we are calculating, we are looking, we are seeing how much damage there is. The streets have collapsed, the waterfront has collapsed, and schools and kindergartens have been affected. It would be very inaccurate to say the amounts now," Rāviņš said.
The Jelgava City Council Speaker pointed out that repairing the damage would affect the municipality's budget for next year. At the moment, however, Jelgava is focusing on providing support to the low-income.
"We are currently making binding regulations so that we can assist low-income people who have been affected as quickly as possible, and that is about €1,000 that we could quickly give to people as assistance," Rāviņš said.
"We have spoken to the Minister of Finance about the need [for aid], and there have also been talks about attracting financial assistance from the European Commission, but these are just talks at the moment. [...] The amount that is needed will be large and very urgent."
Rāviņš also noted that it would take two to three months to repair the damage.
The Mayor of Jūrmala, for her part, said that the municipality's first estimates suggest that the damage caused by the storm is at least €11 million, but that figure is still rising.
"Last week, when we sent the information on the collected data to the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development, it was €11 million. That was last Wednesday. We have tens of thousands of trees that have been cut down and we have not yet calculated all the trees. There is very extensive damage to several neighborhoods. [...] The amount will definitely increase because all the services for pumping out the water have been outsourced in a crisis," noted Sprogė.
The President of the Jūrmala City Council also pointed out that it would take at least two months to repair the damage in the municipality.
