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| Situation Update No. 9 Ref.no.: FF-20100220-25007-PRT
Situation Update No. 9
On 2010-02-23 at 14:39:23 [UTC]
Event: Flash Flood
Location: Portugal Island of Madeira
Number of Deads: 74 person(s)
Number of Injured: 120 person(s)
Number of Missing: 32 person(s)
Number of Evacuated: 250 person(s)
Situation: Divers and sniffer-dog teams mounted a last-ditch effort in Madeira Tuesday to track down 32 people missing and feared dead following flash floods on the Portuguese tourist island. Killer mudslides ripped through the Atlantic island at the weekend, claiming 42 lives as they gutted buildings and overturned cars with the top regional official warning late Monday the final death toll could rise "dramatically". Regional president Alberto Joao Jardim said however the chance of recovering the bodies of the 32 people officially reported missing was slim, saying many were likely washed out to sea. Rescuers nonetheless worked through the night to pump mud and water from a flooded carpark in the main city Funchal where drivers are believed to have sought refuge as a torrent engulfed the streets on Saturday.
Witnesses said they had also seen several people dragged by the waters into the underground carpark. Navy divers went down Monday night to search for bodies, but to no avail, a regional government official said. A Portuguese warship carrying helicopters and loaded with relief supplies was anchored off Madeira and fresh reinforcements were flown in from Lisbon on a military aircraft late Monday, including search dogs, divers and pumps. Portugal has decreed three days of national mourning ending Wednesday for the Madeira victims. A 50-year-old British tourist was among the victims. She was travelling between hotels with her husband and another couple when their taxi was swept away by a swollen river, reports said. Funchal's normally picturesque seafront avenue was still thigh-deep in mud on Tuesday, but in nearby alleyways life was getting back to normal, with cafes and shops taking deliveries and reopening for business. Downtown, bulldozers and earthmovers were churning their way through the tonnes of rubble blocking many streets, including the main market square, while others worked to clear boulders from three rivers that criss-cross the city. Many roads were still cordoned off, littered with overturned cars and dead cats, but officials said they hoped traffic would be back to normal within two or three days.
Water distribution tanks continued to do the rounds on the heights of Funchal, where many houses were carried away by the muslide and the water supply was cut. Authorities were working to restore power and water to several towns in the south and centre of the island, with the resort of Ribeira Brava 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Funchal cut off after floods destroyed a section of highway. Dozens of people were evacuated from their homes in Ribeira Brava on Monday, as well as from a high-risk zone in Ponta do Sol a bit further west, for fear that nearby hillsides were about to collapse. Green groups and construction experts charge that rogue development and bad urban planning has left Madeira vulnerable to flash floods. The island has undergone spectacular modernization in the past 30 years with a dense network of roads, resorts and hotels preventing engorged rivers from releasing water into the soil, critics say. Madeira has yet to put a figure on the flood damage, but the island chose not to declare a natural disaster for fear of scaring away the tourists who are the island's economic lifeblood. Portugal plans to appeal for funds from the European Union and European Investment Bank to help Madeira recover, alongside a special government credit facility for stricken businesses. Promises of help have already come from Spain and its Canary Islands, as well as from football star Cristiano Ronaldo, Madeira's most famous native who was born in a poor district of Funchal. |  | | | |
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