Albufeira council is becoming immune to the affects of local flooding as last night’s downpour, leaving 20cms of water in some parts of the downtown area, was referred to as 'quite normal for the time of year.'
The heavy rain, which caused minor flooding in Albufeira on Monday evening, has not affected the council’s preparations for the massive New Year's Eve party at which tens of thousands of tourists are expected.
"There was a brief downpour that caused flooding in a few places," said the mayor, still counting the cost of the November 1st flooding which wreaked havoc through the downtown area at a cost of over €20 million.
Mayor Carlos Silva e Sousa assured his guests that everything will be ready, as expected, for New Year's Eve with hotel bookings at good levels and an expectation that the town will play host to between 50,000 and 70,000 visitors.
The ten minute downpour on Monday evening did cause some flooding in the centre of Albufeira but the Civil Protection personnel were there to help mop up.
"It was an episode, not a serious one, with the water level rising and immediately dropping," according to the council which is keen to welcome the maximum number of tourists in the off season.
The November storm saw up to 1.8 metres of fast flowing water in the downtown area and damage to shops, houses street furniture, roads and vehicles.
Albufeira’s locals have been clearing up ever since and, despite zero financial help from the government which refused to categorise the event as a disaster, aimed to be trading again before Christmas week.
Last night’s downpour may have rattled some traders and bar owners reliant on New Year’s Eve tourism to repair their balance sheets, but the deluge that crossed the region was heavy and thankfully short-lived.
The mayor's assertion that this sort of downpour is 'quite normal for the time of year' is correct but the problem that Albufeira now has is that it is a flood risk area due to the civil engineering works authorised, in the face of expert opinion to the contrary, by former mayor Desiderio Silva.
These works have served to increase the liklihood of flooding, not to decrease them as he had thought.
Had last night's rainfall continued for half an hour, Albufeira could well again have been flooded out as nothing structural has changed that would avert another disaster.
