Leiria, Portugal, May 28, 2026 (Lusa) - A Polytechnic of Leiria study carried out to assess the impact of Storm Kristin on the centre region of Portugal has concluded that “community solidarity was the real driving force behind resilience," said researcher Ricardo Cavadas.
"The factor that most strongly determined the development of support networks, interpersonal trust and social capital was the solidarity between citizens, neighbours, families and communities that organised themselves spontaneously," he said.
For him, “more than any measured institutional intervention, it was mutual aid that sustained the recovery” following Storm Kristin, exactly four months ago, and “institutions must learn to support and amplify this solidarity, not replace it”.
Titled “Crisis response systems, impact of Storm Kristin”, the Polytechnic of Leiria study, through the Centre of Applied Research in Management and Economics (CARME), based at the School of Technology and Management, is being carried out by Ricardo Cavadas, principal investigator, Alzira Marques, scientific coordinator, and Professor António Carrizo.
In an initial quantitative phase, the study analysed 688 valid responses from the Leiria region, collected between March and May, concluding that "leadership was clearly the most decisive factor in trust".
“People trusted institutions through their local leader. In some cases, when leadership was perceived as weak or absent, people lost trust. Therefore, there was a strong impact of leadership on trust,” he said, explaining that “communication also contributed to trust, but fell far short”.
In this regard, he recalled that “people were left without communications and all communication that took place was essentially digital”.
“Information did not reach the public in a timely manner and greatly undermined the public’s trust in the institutions,” he observed, saying that “the institutions will have to consider different forms of communication, alternative training for the public in advance of disasters, or, when a disaster occurs, how they can communicate without being entirely reliant on digital channels”.
Examples include distributing leaflets door-to-door or driving round in cars with loudspeakers “explaining to people what is happening and what they should do”.
“The information I have gathered is that people were left unsure of what they should do,” he said.
Another conclusion, regarding quality of life and sustainability, noted that “communities with stronger support networks during the crisis reported a better quality of life and more positive prospects for sustainability”, but observed that “the lack of insurance fuels economic fragility”.
"Data on poverty and insurance coverage corroborate this finding: most of the affected families lacked adequate financial protection."
"Economic recovery does not depend solely on solidarity; it depends on formal mechanisms which, in this case, failed or were absent," he added.
Among the study’s preliminary recommendations are the need to “train leaders for crises”, and the need to “redesign crisis communication to be bidirectional and resilient to infrastructure failure," he noted.
He also highlighted the importance of “supporting and identifying where community solidarity lies” and addressing the insurance gap.
“With 40% of households facing a loss of income without any insurance cover, any economic resilience policy that fails to address this gap is incomplete,” he concluded.
SR/MYAL // AYLS
Lusa
