Safety and Security Report Wednesday 19^th February 2026

 

Good afternoon everyone. Firstly we wish everyone, in particular our Chinese followers in Mandarin: “Xīnnián hǎo” (新年好), or in Cantonese: “Gong hei fat choy” (恭喜发财). I am of course referring to Happy Lunar New Year.  This year Lunar New Year 2026 fell on Tuesday 17th, and celebrations culminate with the Lantern Festival on March 3rd.  Traditionally it’s a time to honour ancestors and deities, with family reunions and street parades, and fireworks to drive off evil spirits.

This year Lunar New Year Day coincided with the Carnivals in Portugal. Despite recent weather conditions leading to the postponement or cancellation of some celebrations in certain locations, the festivities continue to enliven many Portuguese cities with festive parades, music, culture, and lots of colour. Certainly in the Algarve the weather was fine for the events, one of the largest being in Loulé on, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The Monday event was attended by around 15,000 people! For those who attended we hope you enjoyed yourselves.

Turning to the aftermath of the storms. We are now in the recovery phase of a series of storms that have impacted the Portuguese mainland. A series which has resulted in severe damage to property, infrastructure, business and not the least 16 deaths. But what will be the lessons learned from this, one example the fact that there are still after nearly 3 weeks 9,000 people without electricity!

With a significant portion of the scientific community warning that extreme weather events are likely to become more frequent and more intense, the question arises: does it make sense to rebuild exactly as before? Or are we rebuilding infrastructure for a climate that has already changed? Perhaps that is why the idea of ​​developing an extensive network of underground cables gained traction in the days following the storm, almost as an intuitive response to the image of fallen towers.

But for the former president of Endesa, there is one factor that immediately hinders the momentum. “The underground electrical network is much more expensive than the overhead electrical network,” he points out, emphasizing that this cost “has to be paid in the consumers’ bills. It’s what we call contracted power, therefore, the fixed part of the cost that we have on the electricity bill, and therefore there is this price issue, which is not negligible; on the contrary, it is quite important and burdensome.”

Burying the network multiplies the installation cost by “10 to 15 times,” emphasizes also João Peças Lopes, professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto and associate director of INESC TEC, also noting that the issues are not limited to costs/price.

Furthermore, it’s important to remember that an underground cable is not simply a buried overhead power line. “An underground cable has to pass through existing land-based communication routes, meaning it runs under roads, highways, streets, paths, etc because it can’t go under houses or agricultural/forest fields. Therefore, it has to follow a longer route, and the entire construction process is much more arduous.”

The storm, he says, showed precisely that: there are limits to what money/engeneering can solve. “There are things where, whether for technical and engineering reasons, or for economic reasons, there really isn’t an easy solution.

Yesterday a new landslide occurred near the cliff in Santo António da Caparica burying three houses. According to authorities, the houses were already uninhabited, as the occupants had earlier been evacuated, but the accident forced the evacuation of another 30 people from nearby homes for their safety. On Monday, the mayor of Almada, Inês de Medeiros, admitted that many of the people who had to leave their homes in the municipality due to the landslide, following the bad weather, will not be able to return to their houses.

The persistence of periods of heavy rain in recent days has been causing landslides in several parts of the country. This can endanger people, homes and highways. To avoid the possibility of casualties, it is important to know the warning signs such as: new cracks in walls, roads or grounds; leaning walls or cracks; trees especially large one at risk of falling; rushing water coming out of the ground or the slope; roads with inundations or cracks and earth moving with loose rocks. If the situation is urgent call 112.

Our team at Safe Communities Portugal widh you a safe and happy week ahead

News

This Tuesday, around 9,000 E-Redes customers remain without electricity following Storm Kristin.

This is the most recent report from E-Redes. The previous report, from Monday, identified 11,000 customers without power.

In a statement, the company reinforces the warning that if the public identifies fallen or damaged electrical infrastructure, they should stay away and report the situation to E-Redes (800 506 506 or balcaodigital.e-redes.pt).

The storms that battered the country claimed 16 lives and also left hundreds injured and displaced.

The total or partial destruction of homes, businesses and equipment, falling trees and structures, road closures, school and transport service disruptions, and power, water and communications outages, floods and inundations are the main material consequences of the storm.

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

The state of emergency that encompassed the 68 most affected municipalities ended on Sunday.