The municipalities of Ponte de Lima, in the Viana do Castelo district, and Barcelos, in the Braga district, announced this Saturday the cancellation of the end-of-year festivities, due to worsening weather conditions.
In a statement, the Municipality of Ponte de Lima affirms that “after receiving the most recent information on the weather forecasts, which point to worsening weather, in particular rainfall, (…) it decided to cancel the event “Passagem de Lima” Year 2022″ that would take place in Freixo starting at 10:30 p.m.
“Guaranteeing everyone’s safety is the main priority,” underlines the municipality of Ponte de Lima, who stresses that “adverse weather conditions do not guarantee the normal implementation of the program, in addition to endangering the safety of all those involved and of the community that he would come here to celebrate the end of the year”.
The Chamber of Barcelos, in a statement, also made it known that the scheduled festivities were cancelled.
The New Year’s Eve party in this municipality in the Braga district, which included a concert by the artist Quim Barreiros, was canceled due to bad weather.
“After contacting the District Civil Protection Command and in view of the information provided, the City Council understood [de Barcelos] cancel the aforementioned celebrations, taking into account that the most important thing is to safeguard people and property. The Municipality apologizes for the inconvenience caused to the people who intended to attend and participate in this event,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the Municipality of Paredes de Coura also decided to cancel the New Year’s Eve program and, in a statement sent to the Lusa agency, warned about the forecasts of high rainfall and very strong wind in the period between 6:00 p.m. today and 12:00 p.m. : Sunday 00.
“The risk of circulation on public roads, due to the possible fall of trees and landslides that have been occurring throughout the municipality in recent hours, advises against holding the numerous festivities planned for New Year’s Eve. However, when improvised enclosures are used (more vulnerable to bad weather) and the coexistence of electric current and abundant rain in areas with a high concentration of people, the risk becomes unbearable,” the statement read.
This municipality in the district of Viana do Castelo points out that “the safeguarding of people, their lives and their patrimony is the fundamental mission of the Municipalities that coordinate civil protection at the municipal level”, therefore, “given the essential need to protect the people, all the rest perish”, confessing that the decision to cancel the festivities was “difficult”, but it is “inevitable and imperative”.
“We want to welcome 2023 and celebrate it with everyone, joyfully but safely”, he concludes.
The districts of Porto, Viana do Castelo, Braga and Aveiro go into red alert at 00:00 on Sunday due to worsening bad weather, the national commander of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority announced today.
“Between today and tomorrow there will be a worsening of the situation,” announced the national commander of the ANPC, André Fernandes, explaining that at 2:00 p.m. today five districts will be on orange alert: Porto, Viana do Castelo, Braga, Aveiro and Viana do Castelo.
The forecast of increased rainfall causes four of these five districts to enter red alert [o mais grave da escala] at 00:00: Porto, Viana do Castelo, Braga and Aveiro.
Source: Observadora
