Tuesday’s heavy rains which flooded streets and swept away cars have also left 83 people homeless, the country’s civil protection authority said on Wednesday.
Heavy rain battered parts of Portugal on Tuesday, forcing authorities to close some roads, while the armed forces helped in cleaning up debris caused by flooding and falling trees.
The rains resulted in 83 people losing their homes, according to Tuesday’s estimates from the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC).
Since midnight on Tuesday, 3,552 occurrences related to bad weather were recorded, of which 2,722 were recorded in the district of Lisbon, followed by Setúbal, Portalegre, Santarém and Coimbra.
Lisbon, Loures, Sintra, Oeiras and Cascais are among the worst affected municipalities, as well as Arronches, Sousel, Campo Maior and Fronteira, in the district of Portalegre.
The events called for “the need to make seven interventions with medical teams”, said ANEPC’s national commander André Fernandes, who also pointed to the four people who were assisted on-site, while the others only suffered minor injuries.
Currently, most rescue teams are located in Loures and Odivelas, the commander said, explaining that the reinforcement resources requested for the Lisbon district are still on the ground, namely the fire brigades of Santarém, Leiria and Viseu, while the armed forces have demobilised.
The “episode of intense rainfall” caused “urban flooding” in Setúbal, where “operations are ongoing” and “there is no record of victims”, he added.
According to Fernandes, there are currently “five active municipal emergency plans”, four in the district of Portalegre and one in Santarem, while the special emergency plans for the basins of the rivers Tejo and Douro remain in a state of yellow alert.
Authorities also repeated their call appeal to avoid walking near the coast as the sea will continue to be rough.
The country’s mainland, however, remains in a state of yellow alert, the lowest of the three.
(Silvia Reis | Lusa.pt)
Source: euractiv.com
