Portugal’s Prime Minister Luís Montenegro will visit this afternoon areas affected by flooding in Alcácer do Sal, in the district of Setúbal, a government source has confirmed (see update below).
The PM is said to already be on his way to the town, among those hit the hardest in Portugal by recent storms.
According to civil protection authorities, the flow of the Sado River fell today in Alcácer do Sal, and the riverside road is no longer flooded. However, one key avenue –Avenida dos Aviadores – remains under water.
Authorities remain concerned as rain is forecast to return tonight, coinciding with potential releases from the Monte da Rocha dam in Ourique into the Sado River. This means Monte da Rocha could become the eighth dam to discharge into the Sado, joining Vale do Gaio, Pego do Altar, Odivelas, Campilhas, Alvito, Fonte Serne, and Roxo.
Tiago Bugio, sub-regional commander for the civil protection agency in the coastal Alentejo, told Lusa that Alcácer do Sal has faced four floods in recent weeks – the first dating back to January 28, though the most severe was on February 5.
The municipal council of Alcácer do Sal has posted on Facebook that around 80 military personnel from the Army and Navy assisted with cleanup operations and the placement of containment barriers on the castle hillside, where landslides occurred. Military support this week also came from the Air Force, including personnel from Beja Air Base, as well as additional Navy and Maritime Authority units.
UPDATE: The PM has visited Alcácer, in the company of the Minister of Environment, and he revealed that the government is working on a form of Plan for Recovery & Resilience ‘just for Portugal’. As soon as it is ready, the prime minister said people would be able to see the improvements and works envisaged, to bring Portugal ‘back’ from what has been extraordinary devastation (and it is not over yet…) He promised a plan “for us to exit this succession of extreme weather events, stronger, more resilient, socially recovered, and recovered from the point of view of economic dynamism.”
Source: LUSA
