Six months after Storm Kristin, central Portugal grapples with over 200,000 damaged homes and a slow recovery

The damage six months on

Six months to the day after Storm Kristin tore through central Portugal, the scars remain deep. Paulo Fernandes, coordinator of the Mission Structure for the Recovery of the Centre Region, told a Leiria press conference that more than 200,000 homes were affected, citing 35,908 applications for public support and 179,046 insurance claims. The same afternoon, the municipality of Tomar said its own damage bill has already passed seven million euros, with hundreds of trees downed in the Mata Nacional dos Sete Montes and the basic school of Junceira still closed. Leiria’s mayor Gonçalo Lopes noted three pre-schools and kindergartens are still in temporary quarters, while some second-cycle pupils attend class in rented containers that have cost half a million euros so far.

São mais de 200 mil casas que foram diretamente afetadas pela tempestade.

State support and insurance: a funding gap

Public financial aid has moved, but with high rejection rates. Out of 35,908 applications to the state-backed programme, 19,477 have been approved, leaving a 32% refusal rate. Payments total 83.5 million euros, with a final cost estimated between 105 and 110 million euros; the average grant is 4,284 euros. On the insurance side, 179,046 claims were filed, 145,000 of them already closed. Insurers have paid out 537.2 million euros, against an estimated 661.5 million total, with an average indemnity of 3,695 euros. The Insurance and Pension Funds Supervisory Authority (ASF) said overall losses from the storm system are now put at 5.3 billion euros, of which only 26% were covered by insurance. ASF president Gabriel Bernardino called the episode “the most demanding test in the sector’s recent history.”

O setor segurador português respondeu de forma globalmente robusta ao teste mais exigente da sua história recente, mas mostra também que Portugal continua a ter uma grande insuficiência de proteção: apenas 26% dos prejuízos provocados por estas tempestades estavam cobertos por seguros.

Frustration with government delays

Local leaders and opposition figures accuse the PSD/CDS-PP government of dragging its feet. José Almeida Lopes, head of the Leiria Volunteer Fire Brigade, said his two stations began rebuilding on 28 January using donations, 950,000 euros from the Galp Foundation, but have received no formal guarantee of state support. “Até ao momento, não temos sequer um papel de um organismo do Estado a dizer-nos que podemos contar com o apoio ou não podemos contar com o apoio. Zero,” he stated. In a separate note, the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) charged that “the fundamental part of the promised support” remains unfulfilled, with 90% of fallen trees still on the ground and thousands of reconstruction applications unprocessed.

Infrastructure and daily life still disrupted

Jorge Vala, president of the Intermunicipal Community of the Leiria Region, said fixed communications remain “severely problematic” with fibre-optic cable strewn across roads and paths. Some northern areas lack television and phone service entirely. Several roads, including National Road 243 in Porto de Mós, are still interrupted. Meanwhile, the Caritas Diocesana of Leiria has distributed 506,000 euros to 49 families, with over 90% going to home reconstruction and the rest for appliances, furniture, psychological consultations, and vehicle repairs. Director Nelson Costa noted the fund still holds 2.375 million euros, and in May the maximum grant per household was doubled to 30,000 euros to better match real losses.

Nós ainda continuamos longe daquilo que é a efetiva recuperação do território e temos de o dizer em bom nome das nossas comunidades, da nossa população.

What comes next

President of Tomar’s municipality Tiago Carrão warned that the recovery is “far from over,” with road repairs, slope stabilisation, and the full reopening of the Mata dos Sete Montes pushed to October. Leiria’s Gonçalo Lopes stressed that school reconstruction cannot wait for the regular national funding cycle, and the fire brigade hopes its refurbished headquarters will be fully operational in August. The ASF is advocating a National Catastrophe Protection System that would share risk among citizens, insurers, international reinsurers, and the state.