Storm Kristin batters Portugal with hurricane-force winds: 5 dead, 8,000 emergency calls

The worst of Storm Kristin may have swept eastward, yet its trail of chaos is still unmistakable from Leiria’s battered rooftops to the water-logged roads outside Lisbon. Five people lost their lives during the tempests that rattled mainland Portugal, and emergency crews logged well over 8 000 callouts—an unprecedented workload that forced firefighters to stretch shifts and local councils to declare all-hands emergencies.

Snapshot of a turbulent week

• 5 confirmed fatalities and several injured across the country

• 8 160 weather-related incidents handled by emergency services

• 178 km/h wind gusts clocked at Monte Real, the highest ever officially measured on the west coast

• 696 000 homes without electricity at the peak of the blackout; tens of thousands still face outages

• €500 M in preliminary damages just in the Pombal area, with national losses expected to climb far higher

• Government declares state of calamity in 60 municipalities and taps EU solidarity funds

• Forecasters warn that successive Atlantic lows could exploit already saturated soils in coming days

Record-breaking winds tear through the Centre

Kristin barrelled in from the Atlantic late on 28 January, hitting land with hurricane-grade gusts that surpassed those of 2018’s Leslie. At Monte Real air base the anemometer froze briefly at 178 km/h before cutting out, while coastal villages in Nazaré and Peniche reported rooftops peeled back “like sardine-tin lids”. According to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), most of the core damage occurred inside an unusually narrow but violent wind corridor running from Santarém through Leiria to Coimbra—a swath also home to some of the country’s densest eucalyptus plantations, adding to the risk of uprooted trunks.

Human cost: five lives lost amid thousands of incidents

The catalogue of tragedies is sobering. In Silves, an 85-year-old woman was swept away when her car slid off a flooded back road. A falling pine crushed a vehicle in Vila Franca de Xira, killing the driver instantly. Two separate deaths occurred in Carvide, Leiria—one victim struck by a sheet of flying metal, another trapped under a collapsed roof. The fifth fatality, a construction worker in Fonte Oleiro, went into cardiac arrest after being hit by debris on an unfinished building. Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) teams attended 3 375 fallen-tree calls and 1 138 structural failures, highlighting how wind, more than rain, drove the casualty list this time.

Lights out, roads blocked, lessons learned

At Kristin’s peak nearly 1 M E-Redes customers lost power. Crews flew drones over 680 km of snapped lines in Leiria District alone, replacing 46 broken pylons and three crippled substations. The blackout quickly spilled into other essential services: water pumps in Coimbra faltered, forcing tankers to supply neighbourhoods; rail lines between Lisbon and Porto closed for several hours after catenary wires twisted into knots. Municipalities from Óbidos to Figueira da Foz cancelled school on safety grounds, and long-distance coach operators parked fleets while the A17 motorway was strewn with overturned lorries.

Counting the euro cost

While accountants are nowhere near a final bill, early audits suggest Kristin could rival Portugal’s most expensive climate disasters. Meirinhas parish alone is staring at €500 M in wreckage, with 95 % of homes damaged and two ceramics suppliers reporting €40 M in combined losses. Insurance adjusters brace for a flood of claims, but officials insist the first payouts will be too slow to cover urgent rehousing. In response, CGD and Novo Banco unveiled €400 M in low-interest credit lines, and the Agriculture Ministry opened grants of up to €400 000 per farmer to salvage barns and irrigation systems. The Government is also courting Brussels for a slice of the EU Solidarity Fund, last triggered after the 2017 wildfires.

Where Kristin ranks in a decade of extremes

Although its death toll sits behind the catastrophic heatwave of 2022, Kristin has already logged more emergency incidents than any storm in recent memory. By comparison, 2019’s Elsa produced 6 200 occurrences, and hurricane-turned-extratropical Leslie managed 2 500. Climate researchers at the University of Lisbon point to a warming Atlantic that feeds stronger autumn-winter cyclones, noting that Kristin’s gust speed outstripped Leslie by a whisker. “Events we once called once-in-a-generation are clustering within the same decade,” warns professor Marta Pires.

The week ahead: saturated soils and fresh alerts

IPMA models show another low-pressure system forming near the Azores. While expected to be weaker, any extra rainfall could tip rivers already at bursting point, particularly the Mondego and Tejo basins. ANEPC urges residents to keep drains clear, secure loose objects and subscribe to the Autoridade Marítima’s SMS warnings before venturing near cliffs or beaches. Local councils are stockpiling sandbags and reinforcing temporary shelters, mindful that rebuilding roofs will take weeks, not days.

Takeaways for households from Porto to Faro

• Photograph damage before clean-up; insurers require visual proof within 8 days.• Beware fake fund-raisers—donate via Cruz Vermelha or municipal accounts only.• Check municipal websites for lists of certified tree-cutters; rogue operators balloon prices after storms.• Sign up to Protecção Civil’s push-alert app for real-time road closures and weather bulletins.

Kristin may have completed its destructive dash, but the recovery marathon has just begun. Portugal’s resilience—tested by wildfires, heatwaves and now record-setting winter storms—faces another stern examination in the months ahead.