Albufeira could be declared a "critical flood zone", announced this Tuesday the Secretary of State for the Environment, after a meeting with the presidents of that municipality and the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), among other entities.
Paulo Lemos added that the Government is working, with the Municipality of Albufeira, to draw up a flood prevention plan for that municipality.
"At this moment, taking into account everything that has happened in recent days, conditions will be in place for Albufeira to be considered an area at risk of flooding", said the Secretary of State.
Such classification, he added, involves the carrying out of works and the implementation of early warning systems, as well as «eventually» implying «relocation of some establishments that are in risk zones».
Until now, Albufeira was not part of the list of 22 areas considered at risk for flooding, drawn up by the APA. Paulo Lemos explained that this classification is made according to certain criteria, which, when the list was made, Albufeira did not gather, «taking into account the history of the floods».
The official pointed out that the data indicate that, last Sunday, there was a "centennial flood", whose occurrence is impossible to avoid. In fact, tal like the Sul Informação published on Sunday, the last major flood of the city took place about 65 years ago, a shorter period, but still within what defines the "centennial flood".
"This type of flood could not be avoided, but its effects were so serious, everything that had been done would only minimize the impacts of this flood", he said.
Paulo Lemos referred to the possibility of creating «retention basins» along the streams that flow into Albufeira, in order to reduce «the impact of the water» and to make «there is a greater capacity for absorption by the structures».
However, he underlined, such works will only be able to advance when the necessary studies are carried out.
In this sense, the Ministry of Environment and the City Council of Albufeira will now work on a project that will be submitted to the Portuguese Water Resources Fund, which has a specific axis for flood control actions.
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