Latvia "State of Emergency" worsens

RIGA - More than 10,000 households in Latvia are still without power after weeks of turbulent weather resulted in the country's prime minister declaring a "National State of Emergency".

Heavy snowfall left over 40,000 "Latvenergo" clients without electricty shortly after Christmas.

Though that number had at one point been reduced to around 6,000, a warm front and rain have now pushed that number back up to nearly 11,000, "Latvenergo" CEO Aris Zigurs said.

Zigurs said the situation was getting "worse" as the unpredictable weather continues.

Estonian and Lithuanian rescue teams have now arrived in Latvia to help restore power. There are now about 1,000 people working to restore power, national news agency LETA reported.

The army and border guard have also been deployed to help alleviate the situation.

Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis at an extraordinary cabinet meeting Thursday declared the state of emergency. The state of emergency is applicable to 40 regions, with the worst-affected areas in the eastern half of the country.