“I am in contact with the services and have been helping to eliminate the destruction caused by the storm in the Saulkrasti region for many hours. Resilience to the firefighters! They have a lot of work today. The services are working, but they need help because the destruction is significant. Unfortunately, there are also injured firefighters,” wrote the minister. Some users doubted that the assistance from local authorities was truly felt. In the comments, specific examples of problems after the disaster were cited, including the situation on the A1 highway in Baltezers. “Disappointment… In Baltezers, even now on the main road, A1, a pine tree is hanging over the roadway on the wires. Drivers are trying to pass under the log. Not a single responsible service. Just an old man from a neighboring house is regulating traffic.” Other commentators noted the appearance of Dombrova. A video surfaced on social media showing a man in neat clothing pulling a chainsaw from his trunk and clearing the road of a fallen tree. After working, he returned to his car covered in sawdust - including on his glasses. “The fact that your black clothes are clean as if taken out of the closet - is this an election miracle? A video is circulating on social media where a neatly dressed guy took a chainsaw from the trunk of his car and cleared the road of a fallen tree. When he walked back to the car, he was covered in sawdust, even on his glasses.” The minister also faced criticism for the work of services in other areas. One user stated that residents of Ogre and Salaspils were left without network connectivity and could not contact emergency services on their own. “You have completely discredited yourselves. In Ogre and Salaspils, people were left without network connectivity, not a SINGLE emergency service reached them to check if everything was okay, because due to the lack of network, they cannot contact anyone themselves!” Users separately criticized the state of the fire service, citing salaries and staff shortages. “Resilience to firefighters? They have nothing else, just resilience, a salary of just over a thousand and a chronic staff shortage. Are you aware? Ask your friend Arturs Butans, he knows more about this issue. How will you solve it?” The comments also included sarcastic hints at the political context of the situation: “Well, Smilten is living in Saulkrasti…” and “Yanka, the main thing is that Smilten has electricity in Saulkrasti.” Another user ironically praised the minister: “What a good boy Yanick is!” There were also remarks about safety precautions. One commentator noted: “For the sake of authenticity, he could have worn some protective glasses.” Esmu saziņā ar dienestiem un jau daudzas stundas palīdzu likvidēt vētras postījumus Saulkrastu novadā. Izturību ugunsdzēsējiem! Viņiem šodien darba ir ļoti daudz. Dienesti strādā, bet viņiem ir jāpalīdz, jo postījumi ir apjomīgi. Diemžēl ir arī cietušie ugunsdzēsēji. pic.twitter.com/x1b7CNgDix— Jānis Dombrava (@janisdombrava) August 23, 2026
