The Portuguese Environment Agency completed a provisional repair to restore the Mondego River dam’s watertightness in Coimbra, enabling drainage of still-flooded lands and paving the way for permanent repairs to the dike, main conduit canal, and road.

This operation reestablishes temporary dike integrity and supports drainage of inundated areas as part of the broader effort to fix the Casais dike and associated infrastructure.

Officials say the broader repair works in the affected areas should be finished within three weeks, according to MAE.

Across Portugal, 18 people have died due to depressions Kristin, Leonardo, and Marta, with hundreds injured or displaced and widespread damage to homes, businesses, and essential services in Centro, Lisboa e Vale do Tejo, and Alentejo.

The hardest-hit regions include Centro, Lisboa e Vale do Tejo, and Alentejo, with extensive destruction and utility outages affecting energy, water, and transportation networks.

Severe impacts persist weeks after the storms, with ongoing flooding and damages continuing to affect hundreds of people, including injuries and displacements.

Repairs are underway on the Mondego’s left-bank dike near the Amor viaduct on the A17 in Leiria to fix a breach that redirected water into nearby fields; additional breaches occurred downstream at the same dike and at the Amor collector.

The Amor collector collapsed for about 80 meters, flooding agricultural lands around Monte Real, with weather-related triggers from the extreme rains on January 26-27 associated with depressions Joseph and Kristin.

The current repairs are a provisional step toward the definitive fixes for the dike, general conduit canal, and road alongside the A1, restoring normal conditions.