“Today is a particularly difficult day in the municipality of Seixal. On behalf of myself and the entire municipality, I express the deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victims. We are closely monitoring everything that is happening and providing all necessary support during this difficult time,” stated Paulo Silva in a Facebook post.
An elderly couple in their 80s died today in Pinhal de General, in the parish of Fernão Ferro, after their house was flooded due to heavy rain that fell during the night.
In a statement to Lusa, the president of the Seixal City Council noted that the house, built in an Area of Illegal Urban Genesis (AUGI), is located next to a watercourse.
“This is a house constructed illegally, without any municipal licensing, as part of the clandestine lotting of Pinhal do General, which began in the 1970s,” the mayor said, adding that the process for the construction of infrastructure and regularization of water lines is underway.
The AUGI of Pinhal do General, he explained, is the largest in the municipality of Seixal and one of the largest in the country, with three thousand lots, and the area is identified in risk cartography.
The district of Setúbal was on red alert due to depression Cláudia, which has affected mainland territory and Madeira, with intense precipitation, accompanied by thunderstorms and hail.
The heavy rains also caused other incidents in various areas of the Seixal municipality, namely tree falls, flooding in homes and public roads, and the closure of National Road 378.
Following the flooding of National Road 378, which is part of Portugal’s national road network and connects Seixal to Sesimbra, two vehicles from the Seixal Volunteer Firefighters, dispatched to assist those stranded on the road due to the quantity of water, were also rendered unusable.
According to the municipality’s president, “the City Council has long been calling for the rehabilitation of that road.”
“We have had meetings with Infraestruturas de Portugal regarding the rehabilitation project. There have been many promises. The work was supposed to commence in 2024, then 2025, and now they say it’s in 2026. We hope it will proceed,” he said.
The Seixal branch of the PS also expressed “deep sorrow” for the two deaths recorded in the municipality, warning of the need for reflection on the structural vulnerabilities that persist in the territory.
According to the PS of Seixal, the absence of urban planning and effective supervision contributed to the emergence of AUGIs, with Pinhal do General being one of the most evident examples of this reality.
According to the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC), mainland Portugal registered 1,874 incidents due to bad weather till 5:00 PM today, with the most affected sub-regions being the Setúbal Peninsula, with 498 incidents, Greater Lisbon, with 184, and Lezíria do Tejo, with 151.
Among the main types of incidents were 1,111 floods, 311 tree falls, 190 road clearances, 130 collapses of structures, and 121 landslides.
In response to these incidents, 5,721 personnel were deployed, supported by 2,192 vehicles.
