After the initial assurances that came from members of government, Paulo Fernandes, coordinator of the mission structure for areas devastated by Storm Kristin, has stressed that it would be “unrealistic” to talk of a 100% recovery – given the effects of what happened to Portugal’s central region.
Fernandes tells RTP that ‘preliminary data’ now points to damages nationally of €5 billion – a full billion more than the early estimate by the prime minister.
Up until this moment, there are more than 12,000 people who have registered for the repair of ‘damages up to a value of €10,000”, but roughly three times that number have already applied for help to the relevant CCDRs (commissions of coordination and regional development).
Around 20,000 businesses have activated insurance policies. In all, Fernandes summarises, 164,000 businesses were affected by the storms (Kristin, Leonardo and Marta) – 55,000 of them in the district of Leiria.
In terms of recovery, Fernandes believes that businesses will recover in a period of between six and nine months – “replacing productive structures”. A total of €900,000 has already been used in financial support measures “which signifies that businesses are reacting more rapidly”, he told RTP.
For homes and families – the so-called ‘lighter interventions’ necessary, Fernandes “pointed to a timeline of a year for all interventions to be complete”, writes Jornal de Notícias. For more complex situations – damages which have implied families’ temporary rehousing – the mission structure coordinator estimates work will take up to a year and a half, stressing that this far around 170 homes have been flagged needing ‘more complex’ repairs.
Source material: Jornal de Notícias
