Latest news and stories about severe weather in infrastructure in Leiria, Portugal for expats and residents.
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The Mayor admits that 25 million is not enough to rebuild the municipality following 193 million in damages. The opposition warns of the risk of losing bargaining power with the Government.
The loan aims to address the 193.4 million euro losses in municipal assets.
Six weeks after Storm Kristin, students in Vieira de Leiria continue to face significant educational disruptions, with classes held in makeshift locations including containers and a former mortuary chapel due to ongoing infrastructure repairs.
The faces of those who held the country together. During the month that devastated Portugal, some worked non-stop to restore normality to the country. In Nuno's case, this meant rebuilding one of Leiria's main electrical arteries in record time.
Thirty percent of the fleet belonging to Rodoviária do Tejo, the public passenger transport concessionaire in the city and region of Leiria, which was damaged due to bad weather, has already been recovered, administrator Paulo Carvalho said today.
Gonçalo Lopes stated that, since January 28, the municipality has set up a “gigantic operation,” explaining that “all aid that arrived” was integrated into the 700-person response team.
The Mayor of Leiria, Gonçalo Lopes, refuses to discuss phone calls with the Minister of Defence and highlights the municipality's coordination with the Armed Forces and other entities during the passage of storms Kristin, Leonardo, and Marta, ensuring support for the affected population.
Water supply for nearly 900 customers in Leiria is being maintained by a generator six weeks after storm Kristin hit the municipality, the Municipal Water and Sanitation Services (SMAS) revealed on Thursday, March 12. According to Ricardo Gomes, the administrator for SMAS Leiria, a generator remains in operation at the Casal da Quinta reservoir due to the lack of public power grid access. Without the generator, the water supply would be compromised for 895 customers in the Bidoeira de Cima parish. The generator is provided by E-Redes, while SMAS covers the diesel costs. The situation is expected to be resolved in the coming days. Since January 28, when storm Kristin struck, the company has spent 113,000 euros on fuel. While generator use should end this week, building repairs are expected to take several months. At least 19 people have died in Portugal since January 28 following storms Kristin, Leonardo, and Marta, which also caused widespread destruction and billions of euros in damages.
Gonçalo Lopes pointed to the Castle of Leiria as one of the “main infrastructures affected”.
A month and a half after the low-pressure system Kristin, the most severe of the “train of storms”, the mayor of Leiria assures that he has not received any funds from the State, despite the Government's guarantees that the money is available. “At this moment, no money from the Portuguese State has reached the municipality yet,” stated Gonçalo Lopes.
Leiria City Council estimates at 243 million euros the value of damages to municipal facilities, community infrastructure, religious equipment, and state bodies, caused by the passage of a 'train of storms', of which storm Kristin, on January 28, was the peak. The figure may be higher, it admits.
The region's Intermunicipal Community states that the “structure and operating model were defined unilaterally by the Government”.
João Marques highlighted that this amount refers only to damage to municipal infrastructure.
A motion approved unanimously requests a scheduled network improvement plan from operators. Some parishes remain without fixed communications.
The section in question has been closed since 11 February, following the low-pressure system Kristin.
The article reports that the municipality of Porto de Mós in Portugal has suffered estimated damages of €12.8 million due to recent severe weather events. These damages primarily affect public infrastructure, including roads and landslides, with some compensation expected from insurance and government sources. The total impact includes €11.5 million in municipal damages and €1.1 million related to associations and cultural heritage. The recent storms, part of a series of depressions, have caused at least 19 fatalities across Portugal, along with widespread destruction, injuries, and displacement, particularly impacting the Central, Lisbon, and Alentejo regions.
Gonçalo Lopes, the mayor of Leiria, discussed the extensive damage caused by Storm Kristin in a recent interview with CNN Portugal, highlighting the municipality's emergency response and recovery efforts over the past ten days.
From Ponte das Mestras, Leiria, journalist Pedro Ramos Bichardo reports on the damage caused by the rain in recent hours.
The storm continues to cause visible damage and losses for residents. Several parishes in Leiria remain without electricity.
Anselmo Crespo reflects on the scale of the damage caused by Storm Kristin after witnessing the destruction in Leiria, one of the districts most affected by the storm. The CNN Portugal commentator says the whole region is “in a hole so deep that no one can see the light at the end of the tunnel”. Therefore, more than financial aid — which he criticises for being late — communities “need people to help them rebuild their homes and their businesses”.
The mayor of Alvaiázere says the Government's support measures for areas affected by the bad weather are “a good start”, but does not know whether they will be sufficient. Around 60% of the municipality's population already has electricity.
Marinha Grande City Council says the toll exemption 'should have been put in place immediately after' the storm. It points out that '400 lorries leave the municipality every day.'
Delfim, 74, told CMTV that he thought he was going to be left homeless on the night the storm devastated the country.
PS deputies elected in Leiria consider a one-week toll exemption on the A8 — which serves the Leiria region, severely affected by the low-pressure system Kristin — unacceptable and say it does not meet the territory's real needs.
