The damage caused by the tornado that hit the municipalities of Lagoa and Silves on Friday amount to nearly five million euros, but the available support, which should be reinforced with measures to be announced tomorrow by the Council of Ministers, will only pay a small part of this amount.
The amount of five million was announced this Tuesday by the presidents of the two municipalities, after the meeting, in Lisbon, with the ministers of Internal Administration and Parliamentary Affairs.
The most affected municipality was Silves, with a total of 3,7 million euros, of which 1,6 million in damage to public goods, and 2,1 million in private. In Lagoa, according to the report presented by the mayors to the Government, the damages amount to 350 thousand euros in public facilities and 1,1 million in private ones.
Following yesterday's meeting, it was announced that the Government must approve mechanisms to support victims in tomorrow's Council of Ministers, Thursday.
In fact, in a statement released after the meeting with the mayors, the Government reaffirmed its "intention to support as soon as possible the affected families and municipalities, through the appropriate legal instruments."
In statements to the Sul Informação, José Inácio, mayor of Lagoa, revealed that the 350 thousand euros in damages to public equipment refer to the glass and other equipment of the EB 2,3 Jacinto Correia School (30 euros), the traffic school, the skate park , a school transport bus and urban furniture and gardens. The repair of the pedestrian bridge over the EN125, which was severely damaged and will cost around 52 euros, will be taken over by the highway concessionaire and therefore does not enter into these accounts.
In Silves, the biggest damage is in the Municipal Swimming Pools, whose repair is expected to cost 383 euros, since the cover was torn off, with other significant damages. But there is still to account for the arrangement of the City Council, the stadium, the municipal market and public urban facilities, especially in the city's riverside area.
The mayor of Lagoa clarified that his main concern is with the damage suffered by private individuals, as there are six houses and around 80 apartments that are heavily damaged, some of which have lost roofs, doors, windows, glass and the contents of furniture and equipment, not even being able to be inhabited.
It turns out that, stressed José Inácio, «there can only be social support for those with a minimum income», which is not the case for most people in the Lagoa Sol and Jardins de Lagoa housing developments, in the new area of the city, where the bulk is located. of the damages.
"There are people who have lost everything, house and car, and now we can't even help," lamented the mayor of Lagos. “They do the math for the household income and say that there can be no support. But the problem is that many of these people do not have insurance, or the insurance does not cover the losses of many thousands of euros that they had».
In addition, added the mayor of Lagoa, “following the tornado, we detected situations of people who used to live well before, working in tourism or construction, and who are now unemployed. There are real situations of hidden lack there. For those who are unemployed, and who have not yet seen their requests for unemployment benefits resolved, what I asked, at the meeting in Lisbon, was that they speed up their processes. At least that".
In the most serious situations, detected by the municipality's Social Services during the field survey that followed the storm, José Inácio revealed that “twenty food baskets worth 25 euros had already been delivered”.
But it will not only be individuals who do not see the color of the money of any support. The City Councils will also have great difficulties in launching works on the affected equipment.
Taking into account that extreme weather situations like last Friday could not be foreseen, the mayor of Lagoa told the Sul Informação who, at yesterday's meeting in Lisbon, asked "that the Law of Commitments be suspended just for this case." As well as asked that the «prior visa of the Court of Auditors» to launch the necessary and urgent works in public facilities was not mandatory. But they were requests that fell on deaf ears, since, guarantees José Inácio “the Secretary of State for the Budget did not want to make exceptions, despite this being, by its nature, an exceptional situation”.
“With the Law of Commitments and, in our case, with our adhesion to the PAEL, if we do not have the available funds, we cannot proceed with any of the necessary interventions”, lamented the social-democratic mayor.
In the neighboring municipality of Silves, which declared damages far greater than Lagoa and where most of the damage occurred in public facilities, Chamber president Rogério Pinto said he was waiting for "legal mechanisms, which will be created this Thursday by the Council of Ministers" and that "will determine what will be the Government's support".
Silves' report indicated losses in the amount of 3,7 million euros, but Rogério Pinto admits that this figure is not yet definitive, “due to the fact that a large part of the private victims do not yet have cost estimates in their possession or filed a report. news from the GNR, information that is essential for the official assessment of the damage caused by the storm”.
To give first aid to the injured, the mayor of Silves will present today, at a Chamber meeting, a proposal to exempt all commercial establishments in the parish of Silves affected by the tornado from the payment of occupation fees for public roads and advertising in 2013.
Yesterday's meeting, in Lisbon, was attended by the mayors José Inácio Eduardo and Rogério Pinto, and also by the ministers of Internal Administration, Miguel Macedo, and of Parliamentary Affairs, Miguel Relvas. Also participating were the Secretary of State for Local Administration and Administrative Reform, Paulo Simões Júlio, the Assistant Secretary of State for Economy and Regional Development, António Almeida Henriques, and the Secretary of State for Solidarity and Social Security, Marco António Costa.
The tornado that, on Friday, left a trail of destruction in those two municipalities, caused 13 injuries, three of them in serious condition, and 12 homeless.
More than a hundred houses, urban equipment, roofs, cars and motorhomes were damaged by the force of the wind.
In Silves, the storm caused considerable damage to the municipal swimming pools, which are unused, to the City Hall and Municipal Market building and also to the Silves Futebol Clube Stadium, whose wall and benches collapsed.
In Lagoa, the damage was mainly concentrated in the new area of the city, where around 80 apartments were damaged, as well as cars, and there was also damage to houses and a tourist resort in the areas of Carvoeiro Clube, Bemveja, Canada and Torrinha.
meeting with the Minister of Internal Administration, Miguel Macedo, and with the Deputy Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Miguel Relvas. Also participating were the Secretary of State for Local Administration and Administrative Reform, Paulo Simões Júlio, the Assistant Secretary of State for Economy and Regional Development, António Almeida Henriques, and the Secretary of State for Solidarity and Social Security, Marco António Costa.
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