Six months after Storm Kristin, recovery remains painfully incomplete – Portugal Resident

Six months after Storm Kristin tore across Portugal, municipalities in some of the worst-affected areas are still waiting for adequate government support; residents remain caught in insurance disputes and essential infrastructure has yet to be fully repaired.

The storm struck on January 28 with exceptionally powerful winds, forming part of a succession of severe weather systems that caused more than €5 billion in damage across Portugal.

Leiria, one of the districts hit hardest by what became known as the “caroussel of storms”, is marking Tuesday’s six-month anniversary with visits to affected areas and an official review of the reconstruction effort.

Officials from Leiria council and the government-appointed Mission Structure for the Reconstruction of Portugal’s Central Region are expected to detail the work completed, financial assistance provided and priorities for the next phase.

Yet the damage remains starkly visible.

In Leiria, Bruno Cézar and his family are still living with the consequences of a construction crane crashing into their apartment building during the storm. The impact caused damage estimated at almost €500,000.

The crane has been removed, but debris from the building’s roof remains and the family cannot use the balcony adjoining its kitchen and living room.

Cézar was at home with his wife and three children when the crane came down. It also struck a neighbouring building and damaged or destroyed eight parked cars. Three of those vehicles have still not been repaired.

Around 30 residents are awaiting full compensation from insurers. Cézar has received part of the money owed to him, but his claim remains unresolved.

The situation is echoed elsewhere, where councils say the assistance received bears little relation to the scale of the destruction.

Abrantes mayor Manuel Jorge Valamatos estimates damage in the municipality at more than €16 million. So far, Abrantes has received only about €1 million.

“The support is absolutely minimal and insufficient for the response the municipality has to provide,” he said.

Damaged roads, small bridges, playgrounds, leisure areas, public lighting, watercourses and municipal facilities still require work. With no additional funding confirmed, the council has begun using its own budget for urgent projects.

It recently approved €150,000 for Carvalhal parish council to start building a multipurpose pavilion to replace facilities destroyed in the storm.

Mayor Valamatos argues that municipalities hit by the flooding which followed Kristin have been largely overlooked – with the government concentrating on damage caused directly by the storm and assistance for permanent homes.

He has also been unable to secure a meeting with Environment Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho to discuss work on streams and watercourses, much of which falls under the responsibility of the Portuguese Environment Agency. A meeting scheduled for July 30 has reportedly been postponed for a third time.

“It has become absolutely urgent to meet the minister and the Portuguese Environment Agency so that we can make decisions and find support mechanisms,” he said.

Abrantes is also waiting for Infraestruturas de Portugal to honour its timetable for work on the EN2 at Espinhaço de Cão and the EN118 between Tramagal and Rossio ao Sul do Tejo. Delays on the EN2 are affecting residents and the local economy, the mayor warned.

Alvaiázere, another municipality in Leiria district, is meanwhile still experiencing serious communications problems. Mayor João Paulo Guerreiro recently described the situation as “unsustainable” almost six months after the storm.

The scale of the continuing recovery is perhaps clearest in Portugal’s electricity network.

E-Redes estimates that repairing infrastructure damaged by Kristin and making the network more resilient to future extreme weather will cost about €110 million. Some €65 million of work has been completed.

At the height of the crisis on January 28, around one million customers lost electricity. About 855,000 remained without power an hour later, particularly in the districts of Guarda, Coimbra, Castelo Branco, Portalegre, Leiria, Santarém and Setúbal.

Although all supplies were restored by the end of February, physical repairs continue across some 6,000 kilometres of the network. More than 500 kilometres of cables, poles and other equipment have had to be repaired or replaced.

E-Redes has identified 5,300 poles and supports still requiring attention. Forty-seven substations were damaged, 24 of which were initially unable to supply the network.

Leiria alone accounts for approximately 45% of the company’s total financial losses, followed by Santarém with 20%, and Coimbra and Castelo Branco with 10% each.

European funding has now begun to arrive. The European Commission last week approved a €65.37 million advance from the EU Solidarity Fund after concluding that Portugal met the conditions for assistance.

The payment is only an initial contribution. Any further allocation must be approved by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, subject to available funding.

Brussels said Portugal had endured an “exceptionally severe” sequence of storms between January 22 and February 15, bringing destructive winds, torrential rain, flooding, landslides and widespread disruption to electricity, water and communications.

Kristin was followed by storms Leonardo and Marta. Together, the weather systems killed at least 19 people between late January and early March and left hundreds injured, displaced or temporarily homeless. More than half the deaths reportedly occurred during clean-up and recovery operations.

Source material: LUSA/ Executive Digest