Marinha Grande, Portugal, Feb. 3, 2026 (Lusa) - Caravans with their wheels in the air, prefabricated houses that flew more than 50 metres and completely destroyed bungalows are the scene left by storm Kristin in the campsites between Alcobaça and Marinha Grande.
Seven days after the storm that devastated the Leiria region, debris is being cleared at the S. Pedro de Moel Campsite (Marinha Grande), where the scene of destruction "almost makes you believe in miracles," Marcel Ourives, manager of the site leased to Campigir, acknowledged.
Of the 35 people who were in the park, nine of whom were employees, "none were injured", although one couple "went to hospital with only minor injuries", he reported.
Two cats, "who sensed danger and fled," alerted Jorge Azevedo, an employee living in one of the park's mobile homes, to "run away too," shortly before the house was "turned upside down."
"When I realised that the house would end up falling over, I fled to the chapel and then to a colleague's house," says the 62-year-old man, who only saw "the house with the roof on the ground, the toilet and sink hanging in the air, and the entire interior broken, from the furniture to the television" the next day.
When he saw the house, Marcel also feared the worst.
"Jorge was missing until after 9 a.m. We couldn't find him, we couldn't call his mobile phone, we didn't know what had happened to him," he said.
To add to the fears, "the house next door was on the ground, destroyed as if it were made of paper," said Marcel. To make matters worse, it was "brand new, just installed on Monday."
The house, an investment of around €20,000, "belonged to Mr Vítor, a customer who has had a caravan here for years and decided to upgrade because he was tired of assembling and dismantling the “extension” to the caravan," he said.
On Monday, Marcel photographed the house and sent the photo to the owner, saying: "The new house is here." But by Wednesday, it was gone, and "Mr Vítor never even got to see it," he lamented.
Letícia Estigarrilia, who was sleeping in a caravan that night with her husband and 12-year-old daughter, "couldn't believe it" when she saw her neighbour Vítor's house in the morning.
"The night of horror" made her fear that "there would be a lot of devastation" after "two hours of darkness, with the wind shaking everything" and her daughter "wanting to go out and wait in the car, afraid that the caravan would tip over".
It didn't tip over, but "the fridge ended up on the road, and the front end is beyond repair," says the woman, who is still unable to quantify the damage.
"Now, if the wind blows, I immediately think of a hurricane," she commented.
Of the eight bungalows in the park, "only one is semi-operational, three were lifted off the ground and lost in the bush, and the rest are shattered," Marcel said, estimating that the damage "will exceed one million euros."
The park's bar lost its roof, doors, windows and furniture, but ironically, "a clock is still hanging on one of the walls, and in another room there is a handmade Christmas tree, made by a customer, which was not damaged at all," said Bruno Valdez, who is in charge of the establishment.
Jorge took refuge in Bruno's house, even though the storm had also blown away "some tiles" and caused "a lot of water to come in" to the house, which "was safer because it was made of brick".
For a security guard who was on duty, "it was the reception kitchen that served as a shelter, because all the windows broke and he hid there until the wind passed," said Marcel, also a resident of the park but, "fortunately, in a house that was not damaged."
After a night "awake watching tarpaulins, chairs and roof tiles fly around", the park manager coordinated the work to put the houses and caravans back on their feet.
In his house, "meals are made with the tinned food that was saved from the grocery store and the bar to feed the workers who are doing everything they can to get the park back up and running".
"We can't count on anyone else," lamented Marcel, who went to ask the fire brigade and the GNR for help the day after the storm, but "no one has come here yet, not even from the council".
This is also the lament of Diogo Pereira, manager of the Praia da Vieira Campsite (Marinha Grande), concessioned to Horizonte Itinerante.
"A mobile home flew away and landed in the middle of the road," in addition to "destroyed tarpaulins, doors, windows and roofs" in the park, where "the electrical installation will have to be redone," he says, explaining that the company's losses are compounded by those of its 128 customers.
Among them, António Gonçalves came today from Ourém to see the damage to his beach accommodation, which, in addition to his family home, has "roof tiles blown away".
Vera Lopes and Adriano Pinto, who live permanently in the park with their two children, aged 3 and 4, only had "a hole in the roof, made by a tile that flew in from another street".
The precarious house where they live year-round was saved because Adriano "lined it all with wood to make it more resistant".
But the storm that left them without water, electricity and communications will leave its mark.
Their daughter, "who had already stopped wearing nappies, was so scared that she started wearing them again". And her husband, a shipyard worker, "has been out of work for a week, and who knows if his boss will call him back".
At the Praia da Vitória campsite, where a caravan overturned and caused one serious injury, the house remains overturned, among so many others, displaced and broken.
The fence surrounding the park is broken in many places, but today, only workers removing trees and debris were allowed into the area managed by the Pataias parish council.
Journalists "only with the council's authorisation", the official explains, stressing that he is merely "following orders".
His instruction to "call the council" remains impossible to comply with in a locality still without communications. And without "authorisation from the council to enter", all that remains is to view from outside the scene of destruction left by storm Kristin.
DA/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
