Philippe Magoni/EPA
Secretary of State addresses this warm period: “There is no memory.” Serra da Lousã Queimada – and it will take a long time to recover.
Portugal has been in a row for many days with fires worrying, every day. Already three people, have already burned almost 200 thousand hectares, there are several wounds and houses destroyed or affected.
Mayors and inhabitants of the zones have repeated the complaint: There are no means lacking support from the government.
Rui Rocha, Secretary of State for Civil Protection said that the executive has given “a positive response ”, at a stage at which “There is no memory” In this century of something similar – so many days in a row with adverse weather conditions. And even with “Abnormal circumstances”, as dried thunderstorms and convective winds.
There have always been “Four or five large fires” at the same time. Thousands of operational ones are necessary at the same time, you can’t reach all populations immediately.
The warning situation in Portugal was not extended because the temperature and humidity They are to decrease (although the wind remains strong in several places).
“It is these aspects that led us not to extend the warning situation, having also the awareness that we are already in a long time and that also has consequences from the point of view of some activities that are conditioned,” explains the government member, in.
Regarding criticism, the Secretary of State admits that “there may be some momentary uncoordination”Due to “complexity of the operations theaters ”:
Rui Rocha assures that the biggest problem in fighting fires has not been the lack of air – but to have these means and the conditions do not let them operate“This is the greatest anguish we have. It is realizing that we have the means, but realize that we do not have the conditions at very determining times for a particular theater of operations.”
Lousã Ardeu
One of the places that were unrecognizable due to the flames is the Serra da Lousã. It was a scenario of destruction.
Ana Costa e Silva, from the Serra da Lousã Business Association, expects a reconstruction with “sense of responsibility, with future vision and sustained in the experience of those who live and work daily” on site.
This is because the Serra da Lousã “is not just a landscape: it is economy, It’s future, it’s life. ”So your reconstruction“ has to start now – and cannot be done by people who do not know the territory, who are sitting in Lisbon“He warned.
Ana has the notion that “It will take a long time so that Serra da Lousã is as it was before. ”And there are damage that is not just the immediate:“ Think about it in a project by two, three or five years. There is impact and damage, damage, which have this duration, ”he said.
