Spring floods have caused EUR 300,000 worth of damage in the Upper Daugava region / Article

The executive director of the Upper Daugava County Council Pēteris Dzalbe (Daugavpils County Party) admitted to the LSM.lv portal that information is currently being collected about the damage caused by floods in Naujenes, Svente, Līksna and Dvietes parishes, where municipal roads, tourist trails, and other municipal infrastructure have been affected by flood waters. Floodwaters have also significantly damaged two bridges in the Augšdaugava region. One of them is located in Ambeli, the other in Dviete.

“According to preliminary calculations, the amount of damage caused by floods in the Upper Daugava region could be at least 300,000 euros. Just the repair of each of the two damaged bridges, in order to ensure their safe operation and crossing of the rivers, could require 60,000-70,000 euros,” predicted Dzalbe.

VARAM will be asked for support for liquidation of the consequences of floods

After collecting the information about the damages caused by the floods, the municipality is going to submit these estimates to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) and ask for state co-financing for flood liquidation measures in the Upper Daugava region.

The executive director of the municipality emphasized that the Ministry of Transport is currently paying special attention to the technical condition of the bridges.

In order to timely eliminate defects that occurred during operation and increase the service life of the bridge, it is planned to restore the structural elements of five bridges in Latgale. Restoration of the bridge over the Istra River on the Lauderi-Vecslabada-Šķaune local highway has already begun in Ludza county, as well as in Rēzekne county on the Varakļani-Naglii-Žogoti highway, where improvements are being made to the bridge over the Rēzekne river. The works are planned to be completed by the end of June.

Railings and barriers damaged in road traffic accidents are planned to be restored for two more bridges: sidewalk railings on the bridge over Dubna on the Līksna-Kalupe-Vecvārkava-Rožupe road and safety barriers on the bridge over Vārnieni on the regional road Balvi-Kapūne. After restoring the damaged barriers, repairing the concrete surface of the roadway structure and the deformation joints is also planned on the bridge over the Rēzekne River on the national main highway Jēkabpils-Rēzekne-Ludza-Krievijas border (Terehova).

Spring is not over yet

The Deputy Chairman of the Upper Daugava County Council, Vitalijs Aizbalts (Latgales Party), told the LSM.lv portal that due to the abundant precipitation – rain and snow, the water level in the Daugava is rising rapidly in recent days: “And it is not yet known what awaits us, because the water level is rising also in the upper reaches of the Daugava.”

As the water moves, a critical situation has developed on a section of the road in Līksna parish, which is beginning to flood. “Flood waters cause the greatest damage – not by slowly flooding the road, but by rapidly receding when the roads are washed away,” added CEO Dzalbe.

Based on the amount of damage caused by the floods, the deputy chairman of the council Aizbalts predicted that the municipality could receive 70% of the total amount of funds needed for liquidation of the flood consequences from the state budget for unforeseen cases. On the other hand, the municipality will have to co-finance the remaining 30% from its own budget, most likely from the funds of the road fund.

Jēkabpils has also applied for help to liquidate the consequences of the flood

The Jēkabpils county council has decided to allocate an additional 600,000 euros for the payment of expenses for the liquidation of the consequences of the 2024 flood. It was also decided to prepare documentation for the request for financial resources from the state budget program “Funds for unforeseen events”.

As the LSM.lv portal was informed by the municipality of Jēkabpils, in the spring of this year, from February 27 to March 2, the territory of Jēkabpils was flooded and the infrastructure of the municipality was damaged in the parishes of Krustpils, Salas, Sēlpils, Ābeļu and Dunavas. In total, 16 municipal roads or streets with a total length of 8,858 kilometers and one bridge on the municipal highway were damaged in the flood.

Currently, the municipal infrastructure damaged during the flood has been identified and the estimated costs for its restoration have been calculated, which is estimated at approximately 600,000 euros. Based on the procedure established by the Cabinet of Ministers for making changes to the appropriations stipulated in the annual state budget law, the local government provides co-financing for the prevention of losses in the amount of no less than 30%.

Taking into account the above, the 2024 budget of the municipality of Jēkabpils region should include municipal co-financing from the total amount of 180,000 euros and pre-financing of the municipality in the amount of 420,000 euros, which is intended to be submitted as a request for financing from the state budget program “Funds for Contingencies”.