The Torres Vedras Town Hall reported a loss of 30 million euros in the municipality resulting from the damage caused by the bad weather in recent weeks, announced today at a press conference.
The mayor, Sérgio Galvão, said that the municipality will report today to the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Regional Coordination and Development Commission a loss of 30 million euros for damages to the road network, escarpments and retaining walls, municipal buildings and equipment, sanitation infrastructures, schools, associations and cultural heritage.
The mayor hopes that there will be support and that it will arrive quickly so as not to compromise the municipal budget, after the costs the municipality has already incurred due to the bad weather.
Between January 28 and Wednesday, the municipality had 1,387 incidents related to the bad weather, ranging from flooding situations, rockfalls or landslides.
“One of the main problems was 75 roads damaged, many of them in total or partial collapse. We have 40 kilometres of roads that require intervention,” the mayor said, adding that National Roads 8, between Catefica and Carvalhal, and 247 between Maceira and Porto Novo remain closed.
Ten people remain displaced, five of whom were evacuated from their homes “as a precaution” near Encosta do Castelo, where there were two landslides and signs of instability, a situation being monitored by the National Laboratory of Civil Engineering.
“It is advisable that they do not stay in their houses, because we are continuously draining water from the slope, and in the meantime there have been two earthquakes,” said the vice-president of the council, Diogo Guia, responsible for Civil Protection.
The municipality reported to the Portuguese Environment Agency 14 occurrences related to instability of cliffs, notably at the beaches of Porto Novo, Foz do Sizandro and Formosa.
The municipality recorded problems in 48 water and sanitation conduits, spanning 40 kilometres, requiring a substantial investment by the Municipal Water and Sanitation Services.
With the bad weather, 800 trees fell or were compromised, which will force the council to proceed with a reforestation plan for the city.
According to the city hall, 110 private individuals have already submitted aid requests for support, totaling 672 thousand euros in declared losses.
After canceling the official Carnival celebrations between the 12th and 17th, despite the spontaneous masqueraders who flooded the streets and bars of the city on those nights, the city council and the municipal company Promotorres admit the possibility of organizing an event to “face the investment of 300 thousand euros in the floats.”
Eighteen people died in Portugal following the passage of depressions Kristin, Leonardo and Marta, which also caused hundreds of injuries and displacements.
The total or partial destruction of homes, businesses and equipment, the falling of trees and structures, the closure of roads, schools and transport services, and the cutting off of power, water and communications, floods and inundations are the main material consequences of the storm.
The Centro, Lisbon and Tagus Valley and Alentejo regions were the most affected.
