After the violent storm that recently hit Skopje, the municipality of Kisela Voda is opening a procedure for granting one-time financial aid to residents whose homes suffered damage. Mayor Beti Stamenkovska-Trajkovska called on citizens to apply as soon as possible.

The reason is concrete: the heavy rains and the storm left many Skopje families with damaged homes. For those who suffered bigger losses, the municipality is opening a help desk - but, as always around here, help comes with paperwork. To apply, citizens must submit a request to the municipal Archive with a photocopy of their ID card and an official damage report from the competent authority. A special commission will then decide on approval.

The municipality's gesture deserves credit - when a citizen is in trouble, local government should be there. But it is worth noting what this news reveals between the lines: the storm damaged homes again, which means the water drainage infrastructure failed again. One-time aid patches the consequences, but does not touch the cause.

The question every storm like this leaves behind is the same: how long will the consequences be patched up instead of fixing the root? Every heavy rainfall in Skopje means flooded streets, damaged basements and then - requests, reports, commissions. The aid is needed and welcome. But real care for citizens is not measured in one-time payouts after every storm, but in the city finally preparing for the rain that comes, without fail, every single year.