Madeira Floods Is This A Coincidence Or We Heading Towards A Huge Catastrophe
Telegraph reported that more than 100 people have been injured in the worst storms in almost two decades, with the number of dead and injured likely to rise even further, officials said. Hundreds of people have been left homeless.
Rescue teams have been deployed by the army and medical reinforcements are being sent from Portugal. Cars, houses and bridges were all washed away and muddy cascades of water have flooded into the capital city, Funchal. Residents say the event came without warning. The European Union has received a request for help from Madeira's regional president Alberto Joao Jardim.
Television pictures showed muddy torrents coursing down narrow channels and spilling over the sides, roads awash with water and streets littered with debris.Debris left behind in Funchal by the flash floods.The island's airport was closed and Funchal mayor Miguel Albuquerque advised people to stay at home. One woman was killed when the roof of her house caved in. Some residents had to be evacuated. Power and telephone services were disrupted in some places.
Portugal is dispatching emergency aid to the autonomous region around 1,000 kilometres away in the Atlantic. Help includes a navy ship with helicopters and medical equipment.The clean-up will take some time, with bridges washed away, trees felled and roads blocked by rocks and mud. And, while no further flash floods are expected, meteorologists say the amount of rainfall on Saturday exceeded the monthly average.
Severe rainstorms triggered the holiday destination's worst natural disaster in 100 years. It has left some 250 people homeless and has terrified tourists whose dreams of winter sun have been washed away."We should not dramatise the situation," added Alberto Joo Jardim. "We should not forget that our economy is highly dependent on the outside. Let's try to solve the problems internally."
Regional government leader Alberto Joao Jardim said the authorities were making temporary shelters available for hundreds of people left homeless.The BBC Weather Centre says the severe weather was due to a low pressure system, and that while Madeira can expect further rain with heavy downpours on Sunday, there is no danger of a repeat of the flash floods.
The Portuguese government is also expected to seek European Union emergency assistance from Jose Manuel Barroso, the EU commissioner, who is Portuguese.
Flooding is not unknown on Madeira, but nothing of this severity has occurred in living memory, according to a local resource.Conditions eased last night and the authorities were making temporary shelters available for several hundred people who were left homeless, though further rain is forecast today.
