The city of Riga will start marking the first safe shelter locations on Wednesday – places where people can feel secure during times of disaster or military threats, the Riga City Council External Communications Department has told the LETA news agency.
The marking will begin at 10:00 AM at a kindergarten at Dzilnas Street 20 in the Dreilini neighbourhood, as well as at adjacent residential buildings with suitable basements.
Work is continuing in Riga to identify other possible shelters, and the municipality is ready to start marking their locations.
Signs will be placed in front of buildings with basements which the State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) has declared to be fully or partly apt for shelter purposes. Such places will be open to the public at times of threat.
The areas will not be open on a daily basis, however, unless the purpose of the relevant building requires that. That would apply, for instance, to the basement of an educational institution which is normally open only to staff and pupils, and not to outside visitors.
Shelters can be created in basements or underground floors of residential buildings, car parks, etc. The aim is to place shelters close to where people live so that they can reach the location quickly after learning of a threat.
As reported earlier, the Riga City Council unanimously adopted a new civil defence plan on March 27, with algorithms and specific advice on how to deal with various crisis situations, including military threats.
Source: BNS
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