Storm Kristin hits Portugal: Five dead and widespread destruction

According to Anadolu Agency, the hardest hit area was the Leiria district, where four people were killed. Mayor Goncalo Lopes said that at least one of the victims died after a structure collapsed. Another fatality was recorded in Vila Franca de Xira, where a falling tree struck a moving vehicle.

Portugal’s National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection said that more than 3,300 incidents had been registered by mid Wednesday. Most calls were related to fallen trees and debris blocking roads, forcing the temporary closure of several major highways.

Power grid operator E-Redes reported that around 570,000 people remained without electricity by midday. At the peak overnight, outages affected nearly 1 million customers.

The storm caused significant damage to infrastructure. In Coimbra, facilities at the municipal aerodrome were destroyed, with aircraft stored in hangars damaged, some of them deemed beyond repair.

In the municipality of Pombal, authorities warned that power outages could disrupt the water supply and urged residents to conserve resources until services are fully restored.

Extreme weather conditions are also being recorded in other parts of the world. In the United States, a powerful winter storm has left more than 1 million customers without electricity and caused widespread disruption to transportation.