At 09:00 Saturday morning, the water level had reached 8.92 meters above the zero point of the observation station, informed the Center of Environment, Geology and Meteorology of Latvia, well above the previous record levels of 40 years ago.
The responsible services worked throughout the night to survey flooded areas, as well as to reinforce water barriers. Four leaks have been fixed, the municipality said. The water is not over the top of the dam yet, but there are places where the water is seeping through gaps in flood defenses.
In places, the dam is "leaking", but to prevent this, sandbags are placed in these places to stop the water from flowing. "The main thing is that the dam is not washed away," emphasized Ragainis.
Latvian Radio observed that the Daugava's waters had not yet reached the high-rise buildings in the Mežrūpnieki district of the city which is among the worst-affected areas, but the foundations of the neighboring private houses are already submerged. Although the area has mostly been evacuated, in the early morning on Mežrūpnieki street Latvian Radio met Agnis, who spent the night with his family in a flooded house, he is staying on the second floor and has no plans to evacuate at the moment.
Another resident, Gatis, said that he had almost no sleep last night, because he and the residents of the district are worried about their properties and go to keep an eye on them even if they have evacuated.
The State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) informed that overnight they rescued five people from a flooded house on Mežrūpnieki street in Jēkabpils, while two more people evacuated on their own. Members of the public – are asked to stay away from flooded areas for their own safety and so that they do not interfere with the increasingly exhausting efforts of those fighting the floods.
Around noon on Saturday the municipality reported that a total of around 10 people were housed, while the number of evacuated is higher, as many have traveled to other accommodation sites. Meanwhile, around 20 people have been evacuated in the rescue work of VUGD, but on Friday seven people refused to evacuate from their already flooded homes, despite the critical situation.
Saturday at noon, the local government asked residents to evacuate from the left and right coast of Daugava within the city, as well as from the area between Remberti and Punu Manor.
LETA reported that there were more cars in town on Saturday morning than usual on Saturdays, but few pedestrians.
The electricity distribution network Sadales tīkls reported on Saturday that, in order to ensure the safety of the population, electricity has been temporarily switched off to 189 customers in flood-affected areas of Jēkabpils and Jēkabpils municipalities, Ābeles and Kūkas parish. Mobile operator LMT said on Twitter that power problems could also affect the availability of mobile voice communications and the Internet.
In Jēkabpils, Rīgas Street is closed for traffic from Palejas to Dārza Street. Also closed traffic is on Brīvības Street, from Old Town Square to Rūdolfa Blaumaņa Street.
Anyone needing help can contact the Jēkabpils municipal police on 65283888 or 25907965.
