Coimbra, Portugal, Feb. 27, 2026 (Lusa) - Following the bad weather, municipalities' “immediate concerns” are the refurbishment of the road network and the need to clean up the forest and repair forest paths, the president of the national association of these local authorities said on Friday.

“Among our immediate concerns is the need to repair the road network, and to this end, we have requested financial support from the government. Repairing the road network will require a very large financial outlay, and it is important that this be coordinated so that we have financial support for these works,” said the president of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP), Pedro Pimpão.

Speaking to the Lusa news agency, the mayor of Pombal also recalled that the area was severely affected by Storm Kristin on 28 January and by the subsequent bad weather (which destroyed thousands of homes, equipment, and infrastructure), making it “very important to maintain mobility.”

“Another concern that has been brought to our attention, in terms of civil protection, is the need to clear the forest and build forest roads. We have a very large fuel load in the forest,” he added.

According to the president of the ANMP, tons of wood need to be removed from the forest quickly to reduce the risk of forest fires.

“There are already several studies that tell us that if the forests are not cleared quickly, in the next two months, we will have a much more difficult summer,” he said.

To accelerate forest clearing, the ANMP is requesting reinforcements for teams in the worst-affected areas, in line with the principle of solidarity between territories.

In practice, the association advocates assigning more forest firefighting teams to these regions, with “active participation” by the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests.

Regarding support for families and businesses, Pedro Pimpão highlighted the importance of strengthening aid mechanisms.

"We have this expectation, also within the scope of the PTRR [Portugal Transformation, Recovery, and Resilience], that there will actually be a financial envelope associated with it that will allow us to move forward with projects. Not only for the recovery of our municipal infrastructure, but also for projects that will transform our territories," he explained.

The mayor also said that, in the aftermath of Storm Kristin, many people felt isolated, left without electricity or communication.

“One of the priorities must be the creation of emergency community centres to support the population in each of the parishes. We understand that the PTRR is moving in this direction, providing parishes with generators, satellite communication equipment, infrastructure, and equipment that will enable each parish to have a support centre for the population,” he stressed.

According to the representative, it is necessary to go even further, equipping these emergency community centres with the capacity to provide hot meals and showers to the population: “We want to ensure support measures in a context where everything fails, so that people do not feel abandoned. We already realise that these climatic phenomena will happen with increasing regularity.”

As for a return to normality in the most affected areas, he believes that “it will take several years” and “probably nothing will be as it was before.”

"What I have been talking about is a new normality, such was the impact that these storms had on our territories, not only physically, but also on the population itself, which I feel needs encouragement, a different stimulus. And it is the responsibility of local and national leaders to convey a message of hope and a vision for the future," he concluded.

At least 18 people died in Portugal between January and February as a result of the Kristin, Leonardo, and Marta storms, which also left many hundreds injured and homeless.

The total or partial destruction of homes, businesses, and equipment, the fall of trees and structures, the closure of roads, schools, and transport services, and the cutting of power, water, and communications, floods, and inundations are the main material consequences of the storm.

The Central, Lisbon and Tagus Valley, and Alentejo regions were the most affected.

CMM/ADB // ADB.

Lusa