The governor of the Bank of Portugal, Álvaro Santos Pereira, argued that it is necessary “draw the necessary lessons and lessons from this entire crisis” resulting from the bad weather, reiterating that it is “not acceptable” to have populations isolated due to lack of prevention. In a post on his personal account on X, Santos Pereira wrote that “recent storms have exposed some of the weaknesses in planning and lack of prevention that are rampant in our country.”
“After this moment of emergency, we will have to draw the necessary lessons and lessons from this entire crisis”, said the former Minister of Economy and Employment of the Passos Coelho Government. “It is not acceptable that we have isolated and flooded populations due to lack of prevention or even maintenance of pumping equipment that could prevent greater harm”, nor that the populations “could go weeks without electricity and communications”, says the governor.
“And it is not acceptable that there are no detailed crisis plans and regular drills for areas most prone to flooding, which recur from time to time”, added Álvaro Santos Pereira. The person responsible defended that it is necessary to “radically change”, pointing out that in the coming weeks and months, we should “learn the lessons from this natural crisis and start” preparation “for the next bad weather, floods and windstorms, or other natural catastrophes”.
“Prevention and planning should enter our common lexicon and our daily lives to avoid future harm and minimize future catastrophes”he wrote, highlighting that it is necessary to “change attitudes” to increase the country’s resilience to this type of phenomena.
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