Bad weather: two dead on the same day. Risk of large collapse

Two men died after falling from roofs. Flood warning in Mondego. Government meets in extraordinary Council of Ministers.

O bad weather is once again associated with deaths in Portugal, still in the week of the depression Kristin: this Saturday, two men died after falling from roofs.

The first fatal victim was a 73-year-old man, who died after falling from the roof he was repairing Battle.

The president of Batalha City Council, André Sousa, explained that the man died while he was replace tiles. “The house had run out of tiles”, declared André Sousa. An aerial vehicle was called to the location, but ended up not landing.

Hours later, also in the most affected district (Leiria), but in Alcobaca, another man died after falling from a roof he was repairing.

The commander of the Alcobaça Volunteer Firefighters, Leandro Domingos, told Lusa that the fatal victim, aged 66, had a four meter drop when fixing the roof. He was in cardiorespiratory arrest when firefighters arrived.

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousalamented these deaths associated with bad weather. And he appealed to the population to “do not put themselves in situations of excessive risk”admitting that it is difficult when your own home is at stake.

In the same sense, the Leiria Territorial Command of the GNR appealed for “maximum caution when repairing roofs”, asking the population to, “after the damage caused by bad weather, not risk their lives”, as “the Roof repair involves a high risk of falling.”

“We realize the need to carry out quick repairs, mainly taking into account the forecasts for the coming days”, says the GNR, asking, however, that these interventions be carried out with “all safety conditions, using, if possible, qualified professionals and appropriate equipment”.

The GNR also warns that “work at heights involves high risks and can have irreversible consequences”.

Collapse, floods, meeting

The imminence of “a major collapse” closed the highway A24 in both directions, between the nodes of Valdigem and Lamegoin the district of Viseu, announced the Chamber of Lamego.

“This is the only possible decision, given the evidence of the serious and imminent risk of new landslides, with the possibility of earth and stone projecting onto the traffic roads and the possible rupture of the A24 platform”, explained the municipality, in a statement published at around 8:00 pm this Saturday.

During the day, this road had already been closed in the North-South direction, as a precaution. However, “after a technical inspection of the slopes of the A24 and the imminence of a large-scale collapse”, the authorities decided to move forward with its total closure.

The Civil Protection of the Coimbra Region appealed to the populations of the Vale do Mondego to be prepared for possible floods next week, given the forecast of heavy precipitation from tonight, Sunday.

Carlos Luís Tavares, sub-regional commander, warned that the most vulnerable areas on the left and right banks of the Mondego River, between the municipalities of Coimbra e Figueira da Fozmay be affected due to the increase in the flow of the Mondego River and the need to discharges from the Aguieira dam.

The Government will meet today, Sunday, in an Extraordinary Council of Ministers. The meeting will serve to analyze the calamity situation, prevention measures for the coming days and the recovery of areas affected by Depression Kristin.