Drones and 100 Volunteers Fast-Track Leiria Flood Claims and Repairs

The Leiria City Council has enlisted Portugal-based tech firm Tekever and more than 100 employee-volunteers to fly drones over flood-stricken neighbourhoods—an operation designed to compress weeks of ground inspections into a single afternoon and speed up compensation, road repairs and clean-up grants.

Why This Matters

• Faster pay-outs: Insurers and the Portugal Civil Protection Authority are expected to rely on the drone maps within days, not weeks.

• Clean-up drive on 7 February: Municipal initiative Limpar Freguesias needs extra hands; sign-up remains open online and at the stadium hub.

• Estragos.pt now live: Homeowners can upload photos to match drone imagery and strengthen aid claims.

• Traffic disruptions: Drone corridors over the IC2 and A1 will close parts of those roads for short intervals; expect diversions.

High-Tech Eyes in the Sky

Until the storm hit, Tekever was best known for maritime patrols in the Atlantic. Today its ATLAS platform is crunching thousands of aerial images from quadcopters buzzing 90 metres above Leiria’s riverside parishes. Each flight produces a centimetre-level orthomosaic, allowing engineers from the Portugal Infrastructure Institute to pinpoint where embankments collapsed and which bridges need weight restrictions. The company says the material is "for exclusive technical use"—no public release, partly to avoid revealing private backyards and insurance-sensitive data.

From Mud to Data: How the Mapping Works

Launch pads were set up in schoolyards and the municipal stadium, chosen for unobstructed line-of-sight.

Pilots follow pre-approved corridors registered with the Portugal Aviation Authority; temporary no-fly zones shield the district hospital and helipad.

Raw footage streams in real time to a mobile data centre, where ATLAS combines it with satellite rainfall records and the council’s cadastral maps.

Experts applaud the speed and precision—but caution about battery limits, data privacy and the still-nascent drone insurance framework Portugal is drafting for 2027.

The Human Factor: Volunteers Step In

Technology aside, the clean-up is a boots-on-the-ground story. Scouts, polytechnic students and off-duty firefighters have scrubbed mud from 40 km of pavement so far. The Volunteer Fire Brigade of Leiria has opened a €150,000 crowdfunding drive to rebuild its flooded station. Caritas Diocesana is running a tool-lending library—wheelbarrows, wet vacs, protective gear—to anyone who registers via the parish councils.

What This Means for Residents

• File damage today: Upload images to Estragos.pt; the site cross-checks your geotag with the drone layer to streamline aid.

• Expect inspectors sooner: Adjusters have already booked visits based on the mapped hot-spots; keep receipts for emergency repairs.

• Participate safely: If volunteering, wear rubber boots and tetanus-updated gloves—standing water still hides nails and glass.

• Watch for alerts: Push notifications from the Portugal Civil Protection Authority will announce when debris removal moves to your street.

A National Testing Ground for Disaster Tech

Leiria’s project echoes recent European pilots, from Zaragoza’s medical-drone corridors to Bavaria’s AI flood dashboard. The takeaway? Public-private alliances, coupled with volunteer labour, can outpace traditional surveying by a factor of ten. Officials in Coimbra and Setúbal are already in talks with Tekever to replicate the model during wildfire season, hinting at a new national template for rapid-response mapping.

Looking Ahead

Final damage tallies are due by late February, after which the Portugal Treasury decides on rebuilding grants and whether to revive the cancelled Feira de Maio in 2027. Meanwhile, urban planners are analysing the drone data for preventive zoning, hoping to shift future construction off flood-prone plots. If that happens, Kristin’s legacy may be a safer, smarter Leiria—charted first by volunteers, drones and a dash of Portuguese ingenuity.