Porto de Mós, Portugal, Feb. 3, 2026 (Lusa) - Surrounded by broken tiles in a basin, Miguel Korrodi, a businessman from Leiria, laughs nervously when, in a factory that has sold "hundreds of thousands" of tiles in recent days, he is told that his tiles are too old to find replacements.
Seven days after storm Kristin left a trail of destruction in the district of Leiria, the age of the roofs has been a challenge for those who want to repair or rebuild the roofs of their homes, warehouses or factories, with many travelling from all over to CS Coelho da Silva, in Juncal, in the municipality of Porto de Mós.
"Not all tiles are the same," explains Paulo Sequeira, the company's operations manager, to Lusa, adding that sometimes the solution is to find tiles compatible with those so old they are no longer manufactured.
At the factory entrance, Augusto Neto, 72, and his brother-in-law, who saw the chimney of his house collapse and will need about 200 new tiles, are realising this specificity.
They travelled from the town of Pernelhas, in the municipality of Leiria, after seeing the company's logo on debris from the roof that had flown away, but the solution will still have to involve some adaptation.
Visibly shaken, Augusto Neto's brother-in-law agrees, at the insistence of the factory employee in Juncal, not to climb onto the roof, who warns that several people have been injured or killed while repairing their roofs.
Miguel Korrodi, 64, has remote support from an engineer and, after a phone call, leaves without buying anything, hopeful for another solution to replace the roofs of the buildings of the company founded by his grandfather, Plásticos Santo António.
In total, he says, there are about 8,000 square metres, of which 85% are "without tiles" and, in some cases, without any roofing at all.
"The only thing that saves us is that six months ago we started building a new factory and in six months' time we will be able to transfer the operation," he says.
At CS Coelho da Silva, where vans loaded with materials continue to leave, the company's stock of tiles has been a lifesaver, since production could only resume on Monday, and even then with limitations due to network failures that persisted this morning, laments Paulo Sequeira.
According to the company's operations manager, the day after Storm Kristin, the day after Storm Kristin was spent repairing the factory itself, which has only been closed at weekends since then, so that the approximately 230 workers could carry out repairs on their homes.
Normally, he says, private individuals can only buy tiles from the company's dealers, but in recent days they have also been able to do so at the factory.
"Yesterday [Monday], we served 474 private individuals," he quantifies, emphasising that tiles have also been frequently supplied to a total of 96 dealers.
All things considered, Paulo Sequeira estimates, in a brief conversation amid the hustle and bustle, that the company has sold "several hundred thousand" tiles since Storm Kristin hit the centre of the country in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Ten people have died since last week as a result of the bad weather. The Civil Protection Agency recorded five deaths directly associated with the passage of the Kristin depression, and the Marinha Grande City Council announced another fatality, to which were added four deaths recorded due to people falling from roofs (during repairs) or carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator.
The total or partial destruction of buildings, fallen trees and other structures, and cuts or restrictions to roads and to energy, water, and communications services are among the main consequences of the storm, which has left several hundred people injured and homeless.
Leiria, Coimbra and Santarém are the districts with the most damage.
The government has declared a state of emergency for 69 municipalities until next Sunday and announced a package of support measures worth up to €2.5 billion.
IB/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
