“We had already implemented social support at the City Hall since the beginning of the disaster. We have a team providing social services to people who need support, and now we will complement that with psychological support,” Ana Valentim, who is responsible for Social Development, told the Lusa news agency.

According to the councilwoman, “people are in a state of great psychological fragility and need some support,” so the municipality has “a team of two psychologists who will be available every day to provide this service.”

“Furthermore, we will reinforce the service with a psychologist in the parish of Maceira, which is experiencing a large influx of people. We already have a social service technician providing support there, but we will also reinforce it with a psychologist,” she added.

Reiterating that, “in the midst of this catastrophe, people are in a situation of great emotional fragility, they need support, they need someone to listen to them and who, in fact, gives them some support and encouragement in the midst of this tragedy,” the mayor stressed that, “therefore, psychological support is fundamental.”

According to Ana Valentim, there is “great anxiety.”

“There is great emotional fragility because there are people who have lost their homes, lost their jobs, and cannot project what the future holds. And they really see a very dark cloud over their future as individuals and as families,” she admitted.

The councilwoman added that the municipality also has “teams on the ground diagnosing situations of more vulnerable people, namely the elderly.”

"They are doing a bit of door-to-door work to understand which situations are most vulnerable and need to be referred, namely to care facilities or even to nursing homes," he explained, emphasising that "the nursing homes in the municipality are responding."

"If we have a situation of an elderly person who needs to be rehoused, it is much better to accommodate them in a residential facility," he argued.