“The most significant incidents occurred in infrastructures that are not even the responsibility of the Porto municipality, but belong to Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP). However, there are no miracles. In other words, when it rains—like it did suddenly and swiftly last night—things happen. We will have to get used to the fact that the city’s temperate climate today is no longer the same. Now, it was the end of the line, as the saying goes,” said Rui Moreira to Lusa.
The mayor was speaking on the sidelines of the presentation of a book from the “Fazer Cidade” collection, co-edited by the municipality and Edições Tinta-da-china, and emphasized the “impact” of climate change, which he considered “a danger in everyone’s life.”
The bad weather led to about 70 incidents in Porto early this morning, the most critical being on the Via de Cintura Interna (VCI), where an elderly woman had to be rescued, and traffic in the Bessa and AEP roundabout tunnels, as well as in Campo Alegre, was temporarily halted.
“I woke up at six in the morning with messages from Civil Protection. At my home, the rain was absolutely terrifying; there were 40 minutes when I had rarely seen it rain so much, it seemed like a tropical downpour (…) fortunately, no one died,” he stated.
When asked whether the part that was under the municipality’s responsibility had been taken care of (to prevent so many incidents), Rui Moreira affirmed it had.
“I believe our teams were out on the streets, solving most cases, addressing what was possible. When we compare ourselves with other cities (…) Porto, despite everything—and this is related to the city’s structure—is less dangerous than other cities,” he said.
