Reports claim Albufeira council is drawing up a plan for more efficient drainage.
“In the most visibly-affected area, downtown Albufeira, [repairs to] public infrastructures are completely finished” Albufeira Mayor Carlos Silva e Sousa told Lusa News Agency, adding that work is still ongoing to replenish riverbeds, repair streams and access to beaches.
The overall cost of the work carried out to fix the damage caused by the floods has not yet been tallied up but, according to the council, it already exceeds one million euros.
Mayor Silva e Sousa has initiated talks with the team responsible for Lisbon’s municipal drainage plan to come up with a project for Albufeira.
The council’s initial plan was to build a new tunnel which would let in water from Albufeira’s main water sources and channel them to a location further away so rising tides cannot affect them.
The Mayor says as the plan is a very expensive and long-lasting one, the public will be invited to comment on it, to express their concerns and views on the matter.
Work on preventative measures will start on the ground in 2017, while it is hoped the Algarve University and the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering will start working on plans during the course of this year.
“Completion of those plans would never be before 2020” Mayor Silva e Sousa said.
On 17 November 2015 the Portuguese Association for Insurers (APS) estimated that the damage caused by the flooding and covered by policies was in excess of €14 million.