The damage caused by the rain in Albufeira was less than initially feared, with public infrastructures suffering minor damage and without private infrastructure showing, so far, difficulties in recovering, the mayor said this Monday.
Without giving a defined value for the losses recorded, the mayor of Albufeira, José Carlos Rolo, told the Lusa agency that, “in public terms, the damage was very small or practically nothing”, with only damage being recorded on the pavements, which were soon repaired.
According to the mayor, if the work on the west half-slope collector, which has been underway since the beginning of October, had already been completed, the arrival of water in the center and flooding like those recorded last Thursday, affecting some establishments, would have been avoided. commercials.
“Part of this water that went to the lowlands is precisely due to the fact that the collector on the west slope is under construction, because the water did not enter there, as it was under construction”, he explained, stressing that, if it were completed, the water would have been diverted to another river basin, preventing it from accumulating in the city center.
The work is being carried out within the scope of the Albufeira General Drainage Plan, which represents a global investment of 21 million euros, launched to prevent flooding in the city center following an episode of rain that caused considerable damage in that area in November 2015 .
In addition to the work on the west half-slope collector, there is still a lack of work on the east collector, the project of which has already been completed, and also a tunnel, which “is quite expensive”, being budgeted at “around 40 million euros” and for which there is still financing is not guaranteed, explained José Carlos Rolo.
According to the mayor, the work on the western collector of Albufeira “should be close to the middle”, being coincident with Avenida de Tênis, and it is expected that it will “remove the water that rains on the western slope of the city center to another river basin ” and which “currently flows into the center of Albufeira”.
With the same objective, a requalification of the water arrival near INATEL was carried out and a regularization of this water line, an area where there was flooding every year each time it rained heavier, was necessary.
José Carlos Rolo also said that “then, three years ago, a pumping station was built in Praça dos Pescadores, which takes the water to a different level and then goes to the sea, because the square is below sea level” .
The president of the association pointed out that “there are no certain numbers” regarding the value of the damage recorded due to the rains of the last few days in the municipality and considered that the scope of the damage “was greatly reduced”, considering that the seriousness of the situation recorded “was inflated”.
José Carlos Rolo indicated that “only a few square meters of sidewalk” were affected, but “they were replaced on the same day”, and there was “no great expression” in terms of damage to public infrastructure.
“Regarding private individuals, no one has spoken out, so they will certainly solve the problem themselves”, stated the mayor, stressing that “no information has yet reached the municipality about private individuals needing support.
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