Lisbon City Council creates mission team to assess bad weather damage

The Lisbon City Council has set up a mission team to assess the damage caused by bad weather through “fast and flexible damage reporting mechanisms” that have been tested in all 24 districts of the city.

“On December 7 and 8, 2022, after an extreme meteorological event, significant damage was caused in all parishes of the municipality of Lisbon,” said the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas (PSD), which the Lusa agency had access to on Monday.

When assessing damage, one should focus on damage to infrastructure, communal and parish equipment, damage to housing, both structurally and in terms of property and property of the victims (stuffing), as well as in commercial and public institutions, in terms of facilities, fixed assets and stocks, according to the same document.

On Friday, the Lisbon Fair announced a decision to establish a mission to assess the damage caused by extreme weather conditions that occurred on the night of Wednesday, December 7, and early in the morning of Thursday, December 8. The City Council after a meeting between the government and 11 municipalities in the Lisbon metropolitan area, convened due to a high number of bad weather incidents.

At the end of the meeting, Presidency Minister Mariana Vieira da Silva said that the government will support the municipalities of Greater Lisbon affected by bad weather since Wednesday evening, with the municipalities having to assess the damage done to the majority on January 15, showing that no mayor has yet there was data on various damages to present.

Worried about the lack of concrete information from the government, the mayor of Lisbon asked to expedite support to be provided to municipalities in the metropolitan area affected by bad weather, stressing that people are “desperate”.

A few hours after the meeting with the government, on Friday evening, the Lisbon Chamber set about creating a mission team, as it considered it “necessary to put in place rapid and expeditious loss accounting mechanisms as soon as possible.”

“In fact, despite the rapid activation of the necessary means of prevention and assistance, as well as the prompt intervention of all the agents and entities involved, who acted in a coordinated manner in restoring the normal functioning of the infrastructure and public equipment, It is clear that the damage to premises and equipment for public use and on private property, namely housing and premises for trade and services, ”says the order of Carlos Moedas to create a missionary group.

In accordance with Article 37 – Coordination of Municipal Services – of the Legal Regime of Local Authorities, the Mayor of Lisbon entrusts the Counselor for Civil Protection and Assistance, Angela Pereira (PSD), with the coordination of the mission. team.

Carlos Moedas is also asking Territorial Coordinator Helena Caria to conduct an assessment of the damage caused by the December 7 and 8 storm “in close cooperation with parish councils, municipal civil protection. services, the Municipal Department of Maintenance and Conservation, the Municipal Department of Economy and Innovation, the Municipal Financial Department and other competent services of the Municipality of Lisbon.”

Carlos Moedas also demands that Lisbon city council leaders provide full cooperation if requested by the director of the territorial coordination unit, with “urgent and priority response to requests, as well as indicating the human resources that can accompany technical visits to the most affected places, according to areas competencies of the relevant organic divisions”.

Apart from Lisbon, the anti-money laundering municipalities that met with the government on Friday to assess the impact of bad weather were Amadora, Cascais, Loures, Mafra, Odivelas, Oeiras, Sintra and Vila Franca de Xira, all on the north bank of the river Tagus. they were joined by two others on the south bank, namely Seixal and Almada.

Seven municipalities on the south bank did not participate in the meeting, which took place at the AML headquarters in Lisbon: Alcochete, Barreiro, Moita, Montijo, Palmela, Sesimbra and Setúbal.

Since Wednesday evening, bad weather associated with heavy rain has caused several floods that have closed roads, tunnels and entrances to transport stations, as well as damage to commercial facilities, homes and vehicles, resulting in heavy losses.

The death of a woman in Alges, in the municipality of Oeiras, district of Lisbon, and dozens of displaced people.