“There was a landslide that took part of the road, cutting the electrical cables that supply the Nossa Senhora da Arrábida Hospital and some water extraction wells,” stated José Luís Bucho, the coordinator of Setúbal’s Municipal Civil Protection, to the Lusa agency.
The landslide “that dragged part of the road was caused by the accumulation of water in a ditch that wasn’t cleaned due to the intense rain in recent days. There are still some doubts regarding the responsibility for cleaning the ditch, whether it belongs to a private entity or the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), but everything indicates it belongs to the APA,” he added.
The Civil Protection official in Setúbal emphasized that the power failure affecting the hospital and the water extraction wells was quickly resolved by E-Redes.
“There was never a lack of energy—it was just a momentary issue—because E-Redes immediately provided generators to supply energy to the hospital and the water extraction wells,” said José Luís Bucho.
The coordinator explained that work is currently underway to ensure safety conditions for E-Redes workers in restoring the power cables. He also mentioned that road repairs will only begin when weather conditions permit, with no current estimate for the start and completion of the work.
The section of Rua da Mata destroyed by the force of water, infrequently used by local residents, serves an industrial oil recycling unit. However, according to the civil protection coordinator of Setúbal, there are alternative accesses to the mentioned industrial unit.
