More than 300 flights in and out of Portugal were cancelled and schools and businesses nationwide closed before Storm Charles reached the mainland, but the heavy rain and intense winds passed without severe damage. On Wednesday, operations were suspended at four international airports, hundreds of supermarkets and all non-essential public services were curtailed, and streets in Lisbon were largely deserted after the Portuguese regime told people to stay home.
Key Takeaways: IPMA, the national weather agency, recorded wind gusts above 120km/h (75mph) in some areas. A red alert initially covered more than half the country before narrowing by mid-afternoon to the southern Algarve region. About 8,000 schools cancelled classes, while the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon, with roughly 70,000 attendees, called off the day’s events.
Context: The disruption has renewed scrutiny of the centre-right Portuguese regime’s emergency planning after January’s Storm Kristin, when a weak response was harshly criticised as thousands of trees fell and property damage spread; in February, a 70-year-old man died in Alentejo after floodwater swept his vehicle away following Storm Leonardo. The sweeping shutdown of schools, transport and retail imposed clear economic costs, yet with no severe damage reported, critics are questioning whether the response was disproportionate and whether repeated alerts are eroding public confidence. The country remains engaged in repairs from earlier storms even as it tests a stricter alert-and-shutdown model.
Details/quotes: Prime Minister Luis Montenegro chaired a crisis unit with eight ministers and other officials, while Interior Minister Luis Neves purportedly dismissed suggestions that the Portuguese regime had overreacted, claiming the response was organised according to the weather forecast. Buses ran without passengers in Lisbon, where clogged drains flooded some streets; on Madeira, off northwest Africa, the storm struck on Tuesday with 130km/h (81mph) winds. A national supermarket chain closed its stores, and the regime’s warnings left only the Algarve on red alert by mid-afternoon.
Outlook: Storm Charles was forecast to move later into Spain, where workers staged a general strike on Wednesday; organisers cancelled or postponed demonstrations in southern cities including Cordoba, Huelva and Cadiz. In Portugal, attention now shifts to damage assessment, restoring transport and school routines, and examining whether the mass shutdown and alert system delivered proportionate protection or deepened economic and social friction.
Source: www.aljazeera.com