Only in the tourism sector “we are talking about more than 2,7 million euros of direct losses, either because there were cancellations”, says mayor of Odemira.
The President of Odemira City Council, Helder Warrior (PS), estimated this Tuesday that the damage caused by the fire, which broke out in that territory precisely a month ago and which affected several sectors of the economy, can go around the 10 million.
In the area of tourism alone “we are talking about more than 2,7 million euros of direct losses, whether because there were cancellations”, whether because there were “people [what] they left their own tourist accommodations”, the mayor told the Lusa agency.
According to the socialist, of this loss of 2,7 million euros total in tourism, “0.1 million were in returns of people who anticipated leaving because of the fire; 0,4 million in cancellations and 2,2 million in physical damage” to tourist accommodation affected by the fire.
Despite still being “finishing the process” of surveying the damage caused by the fire that “affected a very high number of economic activities” in the municipality of Odemira, Hélder Guerreiro says that the global amount could be around 10 million.
“If in tourism they are 2,7 million, I believe I can reach 10 million euros in forestry terms, land planning and houses [destroyed]", estimated. “We now needed to add up some losses, including the City Council, which had a very wide range of signage [destroyed]. It won't be much, but it’s still something from the point of view of material losses”, said.
Speaking to Lusa, the mayor revealed that one of the biggest concerns lies in “some homes” where there was a “complete loss” of the property and, whose residents, “they need to have support now“. Affected residents remain “in friends’ houses”, but as soon as there is a “solution to rehabilitate or rebuild the houses”, the situation will go through the “rehousing process in some of the houses that the municipality has available”, he added.
The “agricultural and tourist sectors” also suffered “a very large direct loss” and “emergency solutions were even needed”, pointed.
Regarding the forest, the socialist mayor revealed that it is necessary to assess the damage caused by the fire last August, but also the “work to be done in the future so that the forest mosaic is more resilient and capable of not spreading to fires of this size”.
fire, which began 5 of August was considered mastered at 10:15 am on the day 9, six days after it broke out in a bush and pine forest area in the Baiona area, in São Teotónio, county of Odemira.
The fire entered the Algarve municipalities of Monchique and Aljezur. The burned area amounts to approximately 8.400 hectares, within a perimeter of 50 kilometers.
