Preliminary information shows that losses are at least 100,000 cubic meters of wood, and for the first time hail also caused damage to young stands, the head of Latvian State Forests Tomass Kotovičs told Latvian Radio.
He said that cleanup work and loss estimates are continuing in the forests and it will take several weeks, but the first estimates show that the losses are at least 100,000 cubic meters of wood, most of them – 30,000 cubic meters – in Zemgale, but the damage is also big in Vidzeme and Latgale.
Kotovic also explained that, given the large total areas of the state forests in the country, the losses of this storm are balanced, but are higher than usual in the summer storm. This time, though, an unprecedented event has occurred – in Zemgale, hail has severely damaged the young stands which had not suffered so far due to hail.
The extent to which the damage was caused to young stands could be seen in the autumn, as some of the trees might be able to recover.
