Falling trees and floods mark the work of Civil Protection in the north of the country, on the first night and morning of the new year, where the district of Viana do Castelo is the “most punished”, several sources told Lusa.
With a record of 70 occurrences of heavy rainfall, 51 of them registered as of 08:00, Viana do Castelo feels the peak of bad weather this morning.
A source from the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) told the Portuguese agency that this district of Minho “was the hardest hit tonight and in the morning” due to a “high volume of events” related to bad weather. .
From falling trees to flooding in urban areas, alerts of vehicles swept away by water or requests for street cleaning, around 10:30 a.m., these events mobilized 82 operators in the different municipalities of the Viana do Castelo district, assisted for 35 vehicles. .
The same source highlighted the fall of a wall in Cerveira, but highlighted the lack of registration of victims.
“Some property damage maybe, but luckily nothing more. But they are not having the hands to measure, no”, said the source, in a contact from Lusa to the ANEPC headquarters due to the difficulty of establishing direct contact with the Viana or Castelo District Command.
“It’s like I tell you: they can’t even answer. The rain is heavy, but no danger to anyone was reported,” added the ANEPC official.
This scenario contrasts with reports from other sources in the District Emergency and Civil Protection Commands, where most refer to last night as “quiet.”
In Bragança and Braga it was not possible to count the number of incidents this morning, while Aveiro informed Lusa that from midnight to 08:00 there were 11 incidents due to bad weather, between floods and landslides.
“No victims, no significant data,” said the operator of the Aveiro District Command.
Already in Vila Real, a district that is also on red alert, due to the forecast of persistent and intense rains, joining Porto, Aveiro, Braga and Viana do Castelo, in an update made on Saturday at 3:53 p.m. by the Portuguese Institute. of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA), highlighting the fall of a tree in Fontelo, and a massive movement of stones on the public highway of Nogueira.
As for Porto, a source from the Subregional Emergency and Civil Protection Command of the Metropolitan Area told Lusa that there were “few” incidents related to bad weather and that the “quiet” night was marked by the fall of trees and small fires in boxes in the trash.
Source from the Sapadores do Porto Fire Department reported four occurrences in the early hours of Saturday for today: two examinations for infiltration, a drainage and a fall of a tree.
The ANEPC placed the districts of Porto, Viana do Castelo, Braga and Aveiro on red alert, starting at 00:00 this Sunday.
The prospects and bad weather even led several municipalities in the north of the country, such as Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia, Matosinhos, Ponte de Lima, Guimarães, among others, to cancel the end-of-year festivities, due to worsening weather. terms.
ANEPC has four special alert states (blue, yellow, orange and red), which condition the reinforcement of surveillance and increase the degree of availability of the device.
Civil Protection also warned about the possibility of flooding in urban areas, especially in the North and Center of the country, and recommended reducing travel on New Year’s Eve.
Another recommendation was that people not go to the beaches on the first day of the year, among other things because the forecasts are also for greater maritime agitation on the coast.
According to the national commander of ANEPC, André Fernandes, the river basins where there are “higher probabilities of flooding in urban areas as well as floods” are those of the “Miño, Lima, Cavado, Ave, Douro, Vouga, Mondego and Tagus rivers”. .
On December 7, 8 and 13, the intense and persistent rains that fell in continental Portugal mainly affected the districts of Lisbon, Setúbal, Portalegre and Santarém, causing the displacement of dozens of people and millions of dollars in damage to homes, shops, establishments, vehicles and public infrastructures.
Source: Observadora
