During a crisis, it may be difficult to follow instructions, therefore people must take initiative and use common sense - Rinkevics

RIGA - During a crisis, it may be difficult to follow instructions, therefore people must take initiative and use common sense, President Edgars Rinkevics said in an interview with TV3 on Monday, acknowledging that he was concerned about the tendency to "break everything down into instructions".

Much has been done since the 2005 storm, yet this time it was evident that at some critical facilities, including stores, gas stations, and mobile communication networks, either the generators ran out of fuel or there were no generators at all.

When asked whether this problem should be addressed through some government regulation or left to the businesses themselves, Rinkevics emphasized that he had always been highly skeptical that everything in life could be solved through "overregulation". "There must be some common sense, including in the private sector," said the president.

"Unfortunately, during a crisis instructions often cannot be followed, so there must be some degree of initiative and common sense. It is not some mysterious state somewhere far away that averts a crisis, but rather we all do this or prepare for it - each in our own homes and, of course, at the national level," Rinkevics emphasized.

When asked to comment on the fact that a number of public events were canceled, while a few events went ahead, including a concert in Jurmala during which a tree fell near the audience, the president said that, in his opinion, organizers who canceled their events had done the right thing.

The president believes that the storm warning was issued timely, and he has a very high opinion of work done by the emergency services, as well as support provided by volunteers and the National Guard.

As reported, on Saturday and the night to Sunday Latvia was hit by the strongest summer storm in decades, with wind speeds exceeding 30 meters per second in some areas. The storm caused extensive damage to the power grid, initially cutting off power to approximately 277,000 customers in Latvia.