“The two municipalities express their regret that, at a time when human and material losses are occurring due to Storm Cláudia and intense rains, there are entities that defame and undermine the work of those who daily work in favor of their citizens,” reads a statement sent to Lusa.
On Friday, APROSOC blamed the Seixal City Council and the parish of Fernão Ferro, in the district of Setúbal, for the death of two elderly people on Thursday amid flooding in the municipality, arguing that they should be prosecuted for “gross omissions.”
Today, the municipalities express regret that “even though the causes of the incident have not yet been determined, there are those who speak on the matter without any sense of responsibility or accuracy.”
Reaffirming their regret for the deaths of the two elderly individuals, the Seixal City Council and the Fernão Ferro Parish Council express gratitude for “all the work that security forces, firefighters, and civil protection have been doing for the population during a time when a storm with severe effects hit the country, and with great effort, provided the best possible response to numerous incidents.”
In a statement released on Friday, APROSOC expressed conviction that “the recent death of two elderly individuals inside their home during floods in the parish of Fernão Ferro, Seixal municipality, primarily holds the municipal executive of Seixal and the Fernão Ferro parish council responsible.”
The association accuses the two municipalities of “inertia and ineffectiveness” in their responsibilities concerning land use planning that allowed for the existence of housing in a risk situation, apparently without geotechnical and hydrological assessment.
The municipal competencies considered unmet include risk prevention for the municipality, continuous analysis of municipal vulnerabilities to risk situations, and studying and disseminating appropriate building protection measures in general and for the municipality’s natural resources.
The association further stated that the municipal executive neglected its responsibilities in public awareness and information to residents about preventive measures and self-protection practices, as well as failing to disseminate imminent or occurring disaster procedures for the population.
A couple, both over 80 years old, died on Thursday in Pinhal de General, in the parish of Fernão Ferro, after their home was flooded due to heavy rain overnight.
In statements to Lusa, the mayor of Seixal explained that the house was built in an Area of Illegal Urban Genesis (AUGI) “clandestinely, without any municipal licensing,” located near a waterway, and the process of constructing infrastructure and regularizing the waterways is underway.
The Pinhal de General AUGI, he explained, is the largest in the municipality of Seixal and one of the largest in the country, with three thousand plots, and the area is identified in the risk mapping.
On Thursday, the district of Setúbal was on red alert due to Storm Cláudia, which has been affecting mainland territory and Madeira since Wednesday with heavy rain, thunder, and hail, already causing three deaths, significant damages, and destruction of structures and trees.
