Leiria, Portugal, May 27, 2026 (Lusa) – Leiria council in the centre region of Portugal has received a total of €17.5 million from insurance companies and the government, but spending to repair bad weather damage totals €30 million, Mayor Goncalo Lopes said on Wednesday.
“We received €11 million from the government through the emergency fund, and €6.5 million from the insurance companies, which represents nearly 50% of the current spending,” the mayor told Lusa.
Lopes noted in an interview marking four months since storm Kristin hit the region on 28 January that the council has “committed around €30 million in spending to date.”
“It is a completely unthinkable amount to spend in four months because of a storm. It is €30 million that we would never think of spending in this period. And then, clearly, there is a deficit between what we spent and what we received from insurers and the state,” he explained, noting the €11 million from the government represents an advance.
The mayor said the council spent the €30 million on “cleaning operations, clearing roads, equipment hire, work on schools, cultural and municipal facilities, traffic signs, bus passenger shelters, traffic lights, urban waste cleaning”, including removing and disposing of asbestos roofs. This specific work cost around €1 million.
“A large part relates to cleaning operations and clearing roads and then building work, which also includes hiring skips, generators and other expenses,” Gonçalo Lopes explained, adding that forest cleaning continues, which “also incurs expenditure.”
He noted the region has 788 kilometres of forest paths and crews have cleared 581 kilometres, predicting that “by the end of next week, this process will conclude.”
The council estimated damage to municipal property at €193 million.
Gonçalo Lopes said final accounts with insurers remain open and will take time to finalise.
“Now we need to cross-reference the valuation of the insurance adjusters with our own assessment, which is why for the main facilities we also turned to an external company to handle the assessment and negotiation with the insurance company, since it is an extremely technical area where the council lacks specialised technical resources, as is the case with large facilities and large buildings that the storm heavily destroyed,” he said.
He stated that “a company that worked on the claims and damages in Valencia [the Spanish region hit by the DANA storm in October 2024] and has international experience in this type of case” will provide this support.
At least 19 people died in Portugal, including six in the Leiria region, between late January and early March following storms Kristin, Leonardo and Marta.
The storms also left several hundred people injured, homeless or displaced. More than half of the victims died during recovery work.
The storms, which hit the mainland for about three weeks, mainly affecting the Central, Lisbon and Tagus Valley, and Alentejo regions, destroyed or damaged thousands of homes, businesses and facilities.
They also brought down trees and structures, cut power, water and communications, and caused widespread flooding, with total losses exceeding €5 billion.
The government has received around 35,900 applications for home reconstruction support, while the recovery task force (a specially appointed government mission structure) estimated that between 35,000 and 40,000 companies suffered damage in the hardest-hit areas.
SR/LYT // AYLS
Lusa
