When a Neighbour Brings Coffee (and Port) in the Middle of Leiria’s Power Chaos

After Storm Kristin, many communities in the Leiria district were left with an electricity grid that visiting crews described as devastated—the kind of damage that makes entire neighbourhoods feel cut off from normal life. But what’s stayed with many people isn’t only the broken poles and torn-down lines. It’s the way ordinary residents respond when they don’t have much—yet still choose to give.  

A recent Lusa report (re-published by Portugal Resident and others) follows a group of around 70 Irish line workersfrom ESB (and subcontractors) who travelled to central Portugal to help restore power. In village after village, they say their arrival was met with applause, hugs, tears—and often coffee, biscuits, bread, and sometimes even port wine.Not because people are wealthy, but because gratitude and hospitality are deeply ingrained.  

“I’ve never seen damage on this scale”

One of the workers interviewed, Cormac Kerry, described having worked other severe weather events, but said he had never seen destruction on this scale before arriving in Leiria. The crews reportedly tackled about two sites per day on average, and beyond the sheer volume of work, they had to adapt to a different network layout and different rules from what they know at home.  

They travelled by ferry to mainland Europe and then drove on to the Fátima area, where they were stationed for roughly two weeks—working from early briefings through to sunset (and sometimes later) when necessary.  

Patience—and generosity—from those with the least

The most striking detail isn’t technical at all. It’s social.

The Irish teams describe:

• Residents who had been without power for more than three weeks, yet remained unusually patient.
• Work taking place in poorer parts of the region, where “many don’t have much money”—but still offer what they can: a hot coffee, a snack, a few kind words, and sometimes a small glass of port.
• When electricity finally returns, the reaction can be intense: relief, tears, hugs—real emotion.

If you’ve lived in Portugal for any length of time, you’ll recognise this pattern. Portuguese hospitality isn’t performative. It’s practical. It’s the instinct to share what’s on the table—especially when someone is doing hard work for the community.

How big was the operation—and why did it take so long?

From the Portuguese side, the scale of the emergency response helps explain the slow recovery.

E-REDES (Portugal’s electricity distribution operator) said it mobilised around 2,400 operational staff, supported by teams from Spain, Italy, France, and Ireland, plus drone teams, helicopters, mobile power stations, and hundreds of generators to supply critical areas while repairs continued.  

ESB Networks also confirmed it deployed crews and contracting partners to Portugal to support restoration efforts following Storms Kristin and Leonardo, noting the storms caused extensive damage and left over one million customers without electricity at peak impact.  

Why this matters to expats on the Silver Coast

Leiria is not “far away” in Silver Coast terms. Severe weather that hits central Portugal can disrupt power, roads, communications, fuel supply chains, and emergency services across a wide corridor of the country.

But this story also highlights something else expats often say they discover here: community resilience. When systems fail, neighbour-to-neighbour support becomes the real safety net—and Portugal tends to be remarkably strong on that front.

The real takeaway

Yes, this is a story about electricity lines. But even more, it’s a story about what’s underneath a society when the infrastructure breaks.

In Leiria, foreign crews saw a grid “crushed everywhere”—and at the same time, they saw people who met them with warmth, dignity, and generosity, even when money was tight and living conditions were hard.  

Sometimes solidarity isn’t a donation or a grand gesture. Sometimes it’s simply: a coffee in the street at dusk, a bit of bread, and a heartfelt “obrigado” when the lights come back on.

Original (Norwegian) version: the same story on MittPortugal.eu:  https://mittportugal.eu/nar-naboen-kommer-med-kaffe-og-portvin-midt-i-stromkaoset-i-leiria/