Residents of Panevėžys, Lithuania’s fifth-biggest town in the north of the country, have been warned about rising water levels in the Nevėžis River after a floodgate in a local dam broke.
Water washed away one of the floodgates in Ekranas dam on Tuesday morning. Witnesses have reported traffic jams forming on a street near the dam.
According to Tadas Martinaitis, a spokesman for the Panevėžys County Police HQ, traffic is not closed at the dam, but it is controlled by several police officers.
“Workers have been called to the scene and are expected to clean up the broken dam. Police crews are on site and residents have been informed about the incident, the Nevėžis River is slightly flooded and the water is rising slowly. There are also cars parked on the bridge, and we are contacting the owners to move them away,” Martinaitis told LRT.lt.
Warning messages have also been sent to residents’ mobile phones.
Vilma Vaiginytė, of the Fire and Rescue Department, told the news portal JP that firefighters are also working at the scene.
“We are monitoring the situation and if the water in the Nevėžis River rises substantially, we will help the residents of Panevėžys. So far, the water in the river has risen, but it has not flooded any houses,” Vaiginytė commented.
In a Facebook message posted at around 10:30, the Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service said that the water level in the Nevėžis River was 215 cm above the zero-mark of the water measuring station and continued to rise. “It is predicted that the water level may rise to a dangerous level (400 cm). It is likely that the Nevėžis will overflow its banks at the lowest point,” it said.
According to town officials, the flow of water out of the dam has been somewhat stabilized by noon.
“The water flow rate has been reduced, it is flowing, but at a lesser rate, and now we are trying to stop it,” Panevėžys Vice Mayor Valdemaras Jakštas told BNS. “They are lowering three barriers, one is already in place, the second is being installed, and the third one has to be in place. This has stopped some of the water flow.”
According to the Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service, as of 12:30 the water level in the Nevėžis River near Panevėžys was 354 cm above the station zero, a critical level. The threshold of 450 cm is considered to be emergency level.
“At these levels, the river banks are flooded in the lowest places, such as Skaistakalnis Park and so on. The water level rise has slowed down as the situation has stabilised, so the risk of buildings being submerged has decreased, but residents need to remain vigilant and monitor the situation. The tidal wave is moving down the river,” the service said.
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