The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) recorded 68 events related to bad weather between 00:00 and 07:00 this Friday – most of them flooding public roads and structures and mainly in the north of the country.
The rain that has been falling since dawn in the north of the continent is causing many incidents, mainly in the Porto district.
The majority, according to civil protection and the Firefighter Sappers Regiment, are flooding of public roads, but not serious.
At national level, ANEPC recorded between 00:00 and 07:00 68 occurrences related to bad weather, mostly flooding of public roads and structures and mainly in the north of the country. 59 were floods of public roads and structures, three tree falls and two road cleanings and four mass movements.
A Most occurrences (57) were in the Porto Metropolitan Area and the rest spread across the Ave and Cávado regions.
A VCI was completely cut off near the exit to Bessa Leite in the south-north direction (Arrábida-Freixo), for more than an hour, due to the road flooding. According to , there were at least two crashes of light vehicles at that location. No injuries were reported.
O Avenida AEP tunnel, next to Norte Shoppingwhich connects VCI to the A28 and one of the busiest places in Greater Porto, is flooded.
Speaking to Lusa, a source from Porto’s PSP added that traffic circulation is interrupted interrupted on the Bessa roundabout viaductas well as in new Campo Alegre viaduct.
In addition to these situations, there are no accidents or serious situations to report, he added.
The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) predicts for this Friday and Saturday a worsening of the weather in mainland Portugal with rain, sometimes heavy and persistent, especially in the northern and central regions, wind and sea disturbances.
Red warning in Viseu, Aveiro and Coimbra
The forecast of heavy rain led the IPMA to place the districts of Viseu, Aveiro and Coimbra between 6am and 12pm on Fridaythen changing to orange between 12pm and midnight on Saturday; and then in yellow until 12pm on Saturday.
Under orange warning because of the rain this Friday the districts of Bragança, Porto, Guarda, Vila Real, Viana do Castelo, Leiria and Bragathen turning yellow until 3pm on Saturday.
IPMA also placed Setúbal, Santarém, Lisbon, Castelo Branco, Portalegre sob yellow warning Friday and Saturday.
The red warning is issued by IPMA in cases of extreme risk meteorological situations. The orange warning indicates a meteorological situation of moderate to high risk and the yellow warning indicates a risk for certain activities depending on the meteorological situation.
Civil protection leaves alerts
Due to the bad weather, ANEPC issued a warning to the population on Thursday for preventive behavior due to the forecast of heavy rain, wind and the possibility of flooding in the coming days.
An ANEPC source told the Lusa agency that the readiness level was raised to 3, which means a greater response capacity for operators.
Civil Protection warned that significant variations may occur in flows in historically more vulnerable areas.
The worsening of meteorological conditions is associated with the forecast of flooding in urban areas, floods and contamination of drinking water sources by inert materials resulting from rural fires.
Civil Protection warned of the need to ensure the unblocking of rainwater drainage systems and the adequate fixation of loose structures, namely scaffolding, signs and other suspended materials.
Also the Public Security Police (PSP) warned drivers for the bad weather forecast for the next few days, which increases the risk of road accidents.
