The state of calamity will be extended again on mainland Portugal, lasting for another seven days, from Sunday until February 15, due to the continuation of the bad weather, announced today by the prime minister.
“We know that we will still face a difficult situation that will prolong the conditions that precisely justified this state of calamity,” stated Luís Montenegro, in a declaration at the official residence in São Bento, in Lisbon, after the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers and after meeting with the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in Lisbon.
In addition to prolonging the state of calamity, the Government decided to decree the contingency situation “in zones with greater flood risk”, which is the intermediate level in the Civil Protection Bases Law, lower than calamity and above alert.
“We thus guarantee, in fact, the continuation of the mobilization of all civil protection resources: the firefighters, the military, the security forces, the health departments, social security, psychological support, the forest firefighters, and the local authorities. Only together, with all the contributions, which have been absolutely inexhaustible from all these entities, and also from many people, many volunteers, only with that collective effort is it possible to face an adversity such as the one ahead of us,” declared the prime minister.
Due to the bad weather, the Government initially decreed a state of calamity on continental Portugal between January 28 and February 1 for about 60 municipalities, then extended it to February 8 for 68 municipalities, and today extended again to February 15.
