The citizens of Levira, Portugal were in for a shock when 2.2 million liters of red wine came roaring down their streets on Sunday.
The liquid originated from the Levira Distillery, also located in the Anadia region, where it had been resting in wine tanks awaiting bottling. There, two tanks — equating to nearly 600,000 gallons— burst, leaving the town of São Lorenzo de Bairro blanketed in red wine.
The streets of Levira, Portugal were flooded with red wine after a distillery’s 2.2 million liter tanks burst.
— Pop Base (@PopBase) September 11, 2023
The flood immediately triggered an environmental warning, as authorities became concerned the surge would present a health and safety risk for the town’s 2,000 citizens and potentially contaminate the Certima River, thus impacting the region’s water supply. The Anadia Fire Department was called to the scene where they were able to redirect the flood away from the river and into a nearby field, where it was then dredged up by the distillery and sent to a treatment facility.
The immediate cause of the burst tanks has not yet been disclosed, but the distillery did confirm that there were no injuries reported due to the flooding. One individual living close to the distillery did have their basement flooded with grape juice, for which the distillery took full blame.
“We assume full responsibility for the costs associated with cleaning and repairing the damage, having teams to do so immediately,” Levira Distillery said in a statement, adding that they are “committed to resolving this situation as quickly as possible.”