Storm Kristin Support Tops 600 Million Euros, but Payments Have Slowed Sharply Since July

Public support for people, businesses and councils hit by storm Kristin reached 607.9 million euros between January and September, according to the September Síntese da Execução Orçamental (budget execution summary) from the Entidade Orçamental (Budget Entity). The figure counts central government and Social Security. The pace of payments has fallen sharply since the summer: the total rose by 30.4 million euros in August and by 21.9 million euros in September, after rising by more than 100 million euros in each of May, June and July.

Where the 607.9 million euros went

The largest single item is not a payment: it is revenue the state did not collect. The exemption from Social Security contributions under Decreto-Lei n.º 31-C/2026 (Decree-Law 31-C/2026), adopted after the government declared a calamity situation on 30 January, has cost 236.3 million euros so far. Spending accounts for the other 371.4 million euros:

• repairs to people's own permanent homes: 99.0 million euros;
• repair and rebuilding of municipal and inter-municipal infrastructure: 80.1 million euros;
• restoring natural, cultural and sports heritage: 79.4 million euros;
• an extraordinary grant to help employers keep jobs: 59.3 million euros;
• recovery of farms and forest plantations: 34.2 million euros;
• road and rail repairs: 11.6 million euros;
• private social solidarity institutions (IPSS): 4.2 million euros;
• families in need or who lost income: 1.6 million euros.

Home-repair support rose from 81.1 million euros at the end of July to 99.0 million euros at the end of September. Over the same two months, council infrastructure moved from 75.4 to 80.1 million euros, and the heritage line has stayed at 79.4 million euros since July.

Part of the bill is still to come

The government's 2027 budget report puts the storm package at 2.5 billion euros for rebuilding and direct help to families and firms. In its analysis of the 2027 budget, published on 26 October, the Conselho das Finanças Públicas (CFP, Public Finance Council) shows that the Finance Ministry counts storm support as a one-off cost of 0.5 percent of GDP in 2026 and 0.1 percent in 2027. Jornal de Negócios, which reported the slowdown on Thursday, put the government's estimate at almost 1.6 billion euros in national-accounts terms.

The CFP expects a sharp rise in capital spending late in the year, partly because some storm support measures are still to be delivered. It also says it asked the ministry for a breakdown of the storm measures' cost in 2026 and 2027 and did not get one. Without it, the council says, it could not judge whether the capital spending forecast is coherent.

Loans are not in these totals: the budget report says storm credit lines run by the Banco Português de Fomento (the national development bank) were raised to 2 billion euros.

What this means for you

The September summary says home-repair support is paid by the Comissões de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional (CCDR, the regional development commissions), the job-retention grant by the Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional (IEFP, the employment institute), and farm and forest support by the Instituto de Financiamento da Agricultura e Pescas (IFAP). If you are still waiting for a payment, follow up with whichever body received your claim. None of the reports gives a payment timetable.

Councils face their own deadline. We reported on 30 October that storm-hit councils are set to get until at least 31 December to claim repair costs from the Municipal Emergency Fund. The longer-term rebuilding effort falls under a separate plan, the PTRR, which we covered this morning.