Bad weather wreaked havoc in Figueira da Foz
Several parts of the country are in need of help due to bad weather. Six people were left homeless this Wednesday in the municipality of Batalha, where the SIRESP network stopped working.
The passage of Kristin depression across Portuguese territory is leaving a trail of destruction, already causing six dead, several injured and displaced.
The most affected districts were Leiria (where the depression entered the continental territory), Coimbra, Santarém and Lisbon.
Falling trees and structures, cutting or conditioning of roads and transport services, especially railway lines, closing schools and power, water and communications cuts were the main material consequences of the storm.
The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) recorded 192 incidents, between 00:00 and 08:00 this Thursday, related to bad weather, the majority in the Coimbra and Leiria region, he told Lusa Jose Miranda.
“192 incidents were recorded79 of which were tree falls, 62 road flooding and 28 structure falls. No victims to be recorded”, said José Miranda, adding that this night, compared to Wednesday, was calmer.
The most affected region was Coimbra with 53 incidents, followed by Leira with 23, and Beiras and Serra da Estrela with 15.
“The remaining incidents were recorded all over the continent. As for municipal roads, there are many closed, but we are still collecting information”, he indicated.
In a previous balance, ANEPC, relating to the period between 00:00 and 22:00 on Wednesday in mainland Portugal, had recorded more than 5,400 occurrencesinvolving the commitment of more than 18,000 operational personnel, with the regions of Leiria and Oeste being the most affected by the bad weather in terms of damage.
The majority of incidents were related to falling trees (3,375) and falling structures (1,138).
This Thursday morning there were still suspendeddue to problems caused on the road by bad weather, the Beira Baixa Linesdo West and the Nortebetween Porto and Lisbon, for long-distance trains and regional service between Coimbra B and Entroncamento.
Civil Protection is in state of special readiness level 4, the maximumalong the entire coastline between Viana do Castelo and Setúbal, and there are red weather warnings (the most serious level) along the entire coast of the continent.
Nearly 450 thousand E-Redes customers in mainland Portugal were at 08:00 no electricitywith the district of Leiria concentrating most of the situations, according to the company.
“The district of Leiria suffers the greatest impact with 300 thousand customers affected. In the rest of the mainland the incidence is registered in the districts of Santarém, Coimbra e White Castle”, according to the company, in information sent to Lusa.
SIRESP stopped operating in the Leiria area
“O SIRESP [Sistema Integrado de Redes de Emergência e Segurança de Portugal] worked morning and afternoon stopped working. It never started working again, except in some areas in São Mamede,” he told Lusa news agency André Sousapresident of the municipality of Batalha, in the district of Leiria.
The mayor of Batalha, who was speaking to Lusa after 10pm on Wednesday from Fátima, in the neighboring municipality of Ourém, where he traveled to have a cell phone network, explained that “the Siresp network worked from 5am until 11am, 12pm”.
Highlighting that the “main news” is that the municipality recorded no victims, André Sousa said that there are “six homelessbut, together with municipal services, we were able to find solutions in family homes”, he declared.
As schools in the municipalities of Ansião, Marinha Grande, Pedrógão Grande and Pombal remain closed due to bad weather – such as in Sourein the district of Coimbra, and other five schools in the municipality of Castelo Branco, namely due to lack of electricity.
Douro and Tâmega could overflow
The intense rain of the last few days (and weeks) is putting pressure on the dam pressure systems.
Second José Pimenta Machadopresident of APA – Portuguese Environment Agency, to, the Risks of flooding in the next few hours are critical, especially at the mouth of the Douro, in Porto and on the Tâmega river, in Amarante.
“At the mouth of the Douro we are managing things to prevent the river’s flow from rising and possibly overflowing. And we are also concerned about the Tâmega. We are managing it so as not to flood the commercial areas. There is a lot of water circulating in the Tâmega river”, he warned.
This Wednesday, the Yes, the Sado River flooded Alcácer do Sal.
In that municipality in the district of Setúbal, a nursing homein the city center, had to be evacuated preventivelyafter the Sado River overtopped its banks and flooded the area, revealed a municipal source. The 20 elderly users of the institution were removed and taken to another structure, located in the upper part of the city and to the home of family members.
“We are here in Alcácer do Sal, at the moment [poor volta das 19h10] with the avenue completely covered, the Municipal Market also already with a few centimeters of water [e] we had to evacuate the AURPICAS home, using the firefighters”, the councilor responsible for Civil Protection, told the Lusa agency, Antonio Grilo.
Government declares calamity situation
The Government decided, this Thursday morning, in the Council of Ministers to decree the calamity situation “in the areas most affected by storm Kristin”announced the prime minister’s office, which is visiting the districts of Leiria and Coimbra.
The informs that the Prime Minister, Luis Montenegrodecided to “cancel the external agenda, scheduled for the next few days (trips to Andorra and Croatia) and which will visit the affected areas in the districts of Leiria and Coimbra.
