Unprecedented rain paralyzes Lisbon and lights alerts in Portugal

The record rain in the Lisbon metropolitan area left a trail of destruction and problems this Tuesday (13), with flooded streets, cars dragged by the force of the waters, closed roads and interrupted train and subway lines.

Early in the morning, the mayor of the capital, Carlos Moedas, asked Lisbon residents to avoid leaving their homes throughout the day. The Civil Protection of Portugal issued a similar alert, also extended to other regions of the country where there was intense precipitation.

Although virtually the entire Portuguese territory is under alert, the Lisbon region has concentrated the highest number of documented incidents.

“We have many areas of the city that are in a state of catastrophe,” said Moedas. Due to circulation limitations, several schools and universities canceled classes. Several companies closed activities or allowed employees to work from home.

Data from the IPMA (Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere) released to the newspaper Expresso indicate that never in the historical series has it rained so much in Lisbon in a period of 24 hours.

Earlier this Tuesday afternoon, several important roads in the capital remained with interrupted or limited circulation. The rain, heavy in the morning, continued throughout the day. The forecast is that the rainy weather will last in the country.

This is the second time in less than a week that heavy rains have wreaked havoc in the country. Last Thursday (8), another storm had already caused a lot of damage. At the time, heavy rains also coincided with the rise of the Tagus River. In the municipality of Algés, in greater Lisbon, one person died due to the flood.

Although in this week’s rains there are still no records of deaths, material damage is accumulating. Floods in homes and commercial establishments caused damage in several parts of the country. In Lisbon, the neighborhood of Alcântara was one of the most affected. Several streets were completely flooded.

Installed in the traditional neighborhood, the restaurant A Coxinharia dawned flooded for the second time in just over a week. Brazilian businessman Glauco Junqueira, who was still counting the damage from the first flood, is now running to clean up the space and try to guarantee the return of operations, albeit in precarious conditions.

Owner of a beauty and aesthetics studio in Cais Sodré, in the center of Lisbon, Keisy Lyra from Santa Catarina also faces damage due to the rain. Although the water did not damage the facilities, she had to cancel her entire agenda for the day, as circulation in the city is impossible.

In addition to the financial loss, Lyra says she also feared for her safety. In the previous storm, she’d watched her car get surrounded by water as she made the drive home. “I thought it was just a heavy rain, but normal. I had no idea that it was going to take the proportion it did. The car’s windscreen wipers weren’t enough. The cars were all passing at 20 km/h, due to the water . I was terrified”, she reports.

The lack of communication from the authorities was one of the great criticisms of the experts. This week, Civil Protection sent text messages with warnings about heavy rains, in Portuguese and English, to the population.

The mayor of Lisbon says that, although the city has been facing problems with floods for several years, the increase in the frequency of episodes is also related to climate change. “We have to prepare ourselves to make structural changes in the city”, stated Moedas.

Experts in urban planning are asking the Portuguese capital to take some projects to improve rainwater drainage capacity. The prediction of the City Council, equivalent to the City Hall, is that the construction works of new drainage tunnels will begin in March 2023.