José Pardal walks, head down, through the courtyard of his house. He wears his coat and working overshoes, and brings with him the air of dismay he has carried since dawn on Monday, December 23, when the waters of the Mondego flooded his house in Lavariz’s place in Montemor-o- Old. «This was a real hell out here. The water reached a height of 84 centimeters in just 20 minutes », he recalls. José Pardal has lived in this place since forever. As with your parents and grandparents. The house is next to the fields of Baixo Mondego, still totally submerged by the waters that arrived after the collapse of two dikes. ‘Floods are not new’, but it is clear how the fight against nature has hardened in the wake of climate change.
“My grandfather told me stories of the floods. He even made an inscription there, on the wall of the old house, to mark the water level of the biggest flood of his time. The line reads perfectly, dated January 21, 1948, just six inches from the ground. “Look how things are changing,” laments José Pardal. “This time, the water has risen another 70 centimeters”, something I had never seen, not even in the bad memories of 2001. “But don’t talk to me about relocations,” he says, with the bright eyes of those who are used to resisting and to start all over again: “The Environment Minister said we should relocate and I ask: How is it possible to move entire lands and their populations elsewhere?”. ‘Look, if the minister wants to see you in my house. I am thinking of going to live in the castle of Montemor-o-Velho, ”he says.
The waters of the Mondego begin to recede slowly, deposited in the fields, but it should take several weeks before they are confined to the original bed. Through José Pardal’s courtyard is a shuttle of people – friends, neighbors and onlookers – who want to see what the fury of nature was like or what it was like.
But “this is not just nature”, accuses José Pardal: “The gentlemen of Lisbon, sitting at the desk, made many mistakes and contribute to this happening.”
Visitors hear and approve the sentence with enthusiasm – the accusations are directed to the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), which is responsible for managing the river flow. In neighboring Carapinheira, the parish’s headquarters, coffee talks continue to be dominated by the events of recent days. Carlos, Antonio and Paulo talk round, using the wisdom that life has given them. «Have you looked at the Mondego river? That is full of logs and that increases the flow rate, ”says one. “No, no, it is mainly the fault of the deforestation works in the bridge dam in Coimbra,” says another. “And why did EDP not make small discharges to Aguieira dam a few days earlier?”
In this dialogue, as in others that happen there, many speak and unanimously point the culprits – they point in two directions: the sky above and the capital below. For the popular, the solutions are “with those who rule these things”. “The minister and the APA solve the problem,” they say here and there. From this, everyone makes a voice and accepts.
But isn’t that already happening? After all, the first dam began to be repaired this Friday and the environment minister expects to complete the work in two months. Some smile and some roll their eyes. Still others use their hands to ward off bad thoughts: “But does anyone believe this?”
A little higher, next to the Mother Church, we knocked on the door of the Parish Council. President Victor Pardal Monteiro has not left the post since the arrival of the waters. “On Monday we had to get nine people out of their homes. It was a sleepless night, ”he recalls. Going forward, the mayor points to ‘more effective maintenance of dikes’.
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