Published sub-criteria for flood damage in December and January

The government declared the floods that hit several municipalities in December and January to be “exceptional natural events” and the criteria for providing support to affected municipalities, companies, organizations and families was published this Monday in Diário da República.

According to the diploma, for the floods that occurred in December 2022 and January 2023 to be considered exceptional natural events, municipalities must register a maximum daily rainfall exceeding 30% of the normal monthly rainfall calculated by the Instituto Português do Mar. e da Atmosfera (IPMA), as well as the minimum amount of damage suffered by municipalities in the amount of 100 thousand euros for municipalities with a population of 20 thousand or less, in the amount of 200 thousand euros for municipalities with a permanent population of more than 20,000 and up to 100,000 inhabitants or 500 thousand euros in case of councils with more than 100 thousand inhabitants.

Municipalities that have not had episodes of more than 30% rainfall but also recorded high losses due to the “occurrence of exceptional floods and flooding” may also be eligible, provided that this situation is assessed and confirmed. , by the Portuguese Environmental Protection Agency (APA).

Support will be provided only in cases where the victim cannot cover the damage caused by their own means, for example through insurance, and the total amount of public assistance to which they may be entitled will be deducted from any other reparation or compensation. received.

After establishing these criteria “with a view to restoring the normal life of the population and providing social and economic support to the population, companies and municipalities”, the government provides support in areas such as civil protection, culture, work, solidarity and welfare, families, social organizations and institutions, businesses, environment, infrastructure, housing, local administration, agriculture, sea and fisheries, provided that the damage was directly caused by flooding.

Thus, provided that the activities were directly affected, the diploma provides for the creation of an “exceptional and temporary regime of full or partial exemption from the payment of social security contributions”, namely the possibility of a six-month exemption for companies and self-employed workers and a 50 percent reduction in the rate employer’s contribution for three years if companies hire workers who have become unemployed due to flooding.

Funding from the state budget (GB) also provides support to social institutions conducting solidarity actions with the affected territories and population.

“Exceptional measures will be taken to exempt and defer the payment of social security contributions for families who are in a situation of need or loss of income and who need to bear the expenses necessary for their existence or the acquisition of urgent goods and unavoidable, namely the cost of rent in situations of temporary residence, through the provision of possible subsidies, one concession or maintenance.

With regard to housing, the Diploma defines support measures through the OE for the reconstruction or rehabilitation of flood-affected residential buildings, as well as for the urgent and temporary accommodation of people who could not use their housing, through protocols with municipalities.

The Commissions for Coordination and Regional Development (CRDC) should launch in their respective territories an economic resumption support program aimed at supporting companies (with the exception of the agricultural and forestry sectors) whose productive capacity has been directly affected.

This program will support “situations of claimed losses up to 200,000 euros” and will have an indicative allocation of 20 million euros through the OE, coordinated by the Minister of Territorial Unity.

The local government will also receive support for the replacement and repair of infrastructure and municipal public equipment with an indicative budgetary allocation of 91 million, “allocation is subject to verification by the relevant CCDRs.”

As part of civil protection, the OE will also support the replacement and recovery of equipment and vehicles from the National Office of Emergency Management and Civil Protection, GNR, PSP, and humanitarian associations of firefighters.

Agricultural support measures are planned to restore affected farms and replace animals, and in the field of marine and fisheries, support for the repair of buildings and equipment of the central administration with services to the population.

Support will also be provided to restore traffic and safety conditions on road and rail routes and working conditions in ports, as well as measures to stabilize, consolidate and rehabilitate cultural heritage (through the Cultural Heritage Preservation Fund).

The Environmental Fund will support actions to clean up, silt up, renaturalize, repair and strengthen the banks of aqueducts and dams, structural damage to water bodies, restore or replace meteorological and hydrological monitoring stations, and the stability of rocks in the body of water and/or the marine public domain.

The government predicted on January 12 that the amount of assistance to be provided in connection with the floods, which affected several municipalities in December and January last year, would be 185 million euros, although damage of about 293 million was mentioned at the time.