Lithuania’s government declared a nationwide “extreme situation” Wednesday following a severe weekend storm that caused extensive damage to crops, livestock and agricultural infrastructure.
The declaration is intended to help farmers and other agricultural businesses affected by the storm meet their obligations and allow the government to seek assistance from the European Commission and use state reserve funds to compensate for or reduce losses, Agriculture Minister Kęstutis Mažeika said.
“The main goal is to provide real assistance to agricultural entities that, because of these exceptional circumstances, are unable to meet their obligations, as well as to enable an appeal to the European Commission and make use of state reserve funds to compensate for or reduce losses,” Mažeika said at a government meeting.
Preliminary assessments indicate that western Lithuania suffered the most significant crop damage, with between 30% and 60% of crops affected in some areas.
About 56,000 hectares or more of crops may have been damaged, Mazeika said.
