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Madeira Island Floods And Landslides Kill Dozens

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Candy
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« on: February 21, 2010, 12:28:20 am »

Madeira Island Floods And Landslides Kill Dozens

DANIEL WOOLLS | 02/20/10 05:42 PM | AP



MADRID — Flooding and landslides swept away cars and knocked down houses as a violent storm killed at least 32 people Saturday on the Portuguese island of Madeira, a news agency reported.

The Lusa agency quoted the vice president of the Madeira regional government, Joao Cunha e Silva, as saying another 68 people have been hospitalized in the island's main city, Funchal.

Madeira is the main island of a Portuguese archipelago of the same name, in the Atlantic off the northwest coast of Africa.

Floods tore down houses as the storm hit early Saturday. Roads were blocked by fallen trees and rocks carried by flood waters, and some bridges were also downed, Lusa said.

Phone lines were knocked out, forcing emergency rescue services to appeal over local radio stations for off-duty doctors and nurses to report for duty.

Local authorities called in employees to operate heavy machinery like bulldozers to clear roads and remove debris. People in low-lying areas of Funchal fled as flood waters rose, Lusa said.

Madeira regional president Alberto Joao Jardim spoke to European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, who is Portuguese, to appeal for emergency aid from the European Union.

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates promised that help would be sent from the Portuguese mainland.
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Candy
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« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2010, 12:30:29 am »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8526587.stm
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Gwen Parker
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« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2010, 11:07:01 am »



Madeira floods, mudslides are lessons learned for future mitigation

By Joshua Wilwohl / josh@theklaxon.com / 02.21.2010

Updated on: 02.21.10 at 11:39 am

It seems Madeira wasn’t ready as it faces a death toll that’s expected to rise from Saturday’s floods and mudslides.

Initial reports state more than 100 are injured and more than 40 killed.

Emergency teams were dispatched and the Portuguese government has said it will seek European Union emergency assistance.

However, this does not bode well for an island hotspot where Britons make holiday.

Madeira has seen its share of storms, with the deadliest (until Sunday) in October 1993 that killed eight people.

The problem is most people do not take rain (which turns to floods that turn to mudslides) seriously.

Madeira may have been aware that severe rain was going to strike the island, but the fact that it’s not “normal” for floods at this time makes for no quick preparation strategies.

“I think everyone is extremely shocked that this has happened at this time of year,” one duty officer at the civil protection service told The Daily Telegraph. “We’re overwhelmed by calls from people asking for help after the torrential rains.”

And it unlikely will ease, as officials are informing those on the island to stay inside while the flood waters subside.

This shelter in place is dangerous as flood waters could pour into structures and make them vulnerable to collapse.

Additionally, authorities in Madeira, particularly in Funchal, the island’s capital, have said they are unable to reach those in the Nuns Valley, a mountainous region near the island’s center.

Floods in Europe are not uncommon. In fact, they are more common and have sparked recent debate on community preparedness.
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« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2010, 11:07:34 am »

In a regional Associated Programme on Flood Management workshop in Krakow, Poland, participants developed conclusions on “Community Preparedness and Public Participation in Flash Flood Management in Europe,” that were presented to national administrators, operational managers in the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and mayors.

Some of their findings included:

1. “Flash floods due to their special characteristics, causes of occurrence, and need for improved understanding require a multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach in managing and mitigating their adverse impacts.”

2. “Flash floods should be especially and specifically addressed while implementing the national or regional (e.g., EU Flood Directive) flood management policies, IWRM and basin flood management plans or disaster/ crisis management plans.”

3. “The flash flood hazard assessment shall be carried out for all possible sources of flash floods (cloudbursts, lake outbursts, etc) within the overall flood risk assessment of the river basin, duly involving the multi-hazard approach, including those for landslides, mudflows and debris flows, avalanches etc., wherever appropriate.”

4. “There is need for a platform for sharing data and information among the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), Local Authorities, civil protection authorities and educational and public awareness institutions on flash floods. There should be a mechanism to share the experiences in flash flood management within the countries and an ongoing international exchange on the topic.”

It would seem from initial reports of rash decision making that Portuguese authorities failed to adopt such policies early. However, if they did, it doesn’t show, as headlines scream of death tolls and missing persons.

It’s understandable if Madeira did have all strategies in place, but the weather outlook should have provided some hint at the storm’s effect.

Now, it looks as if recovery efforts are moving rapidly with the deployment of military troops and personnel.

Let’s hope, following this incident, that Portuguese officials mitigate future strategies.

Listen to The Klaxon’s podcast on landslides/mudslides here.

http://theklaxon.com/madeira-floods-mudslides-are-lessons-learned-for-future-mitigation/5260
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Gwen Parker
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« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2010, 11:08:15 am »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGOOroXUF4s&feature=player_embedded

Amatuer video of the floods
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« Reply #5 on: February 21, 2010, 11:18:36 am »

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« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2010, 11:19:06 am »

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« Reply #7 on: February 21, 2010, 11:20:11 am »

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« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2010, 11:20:22 am »

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« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2010, 11:20:57 am »

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« Reply #10 on: February 21, 2010, 11:21:28 am »

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« Reply #11 on: February 21, 2010, 11:24:59 am »

Madeira floods kill 40, rescuers hunt for missing

  By Duarte Sa Duarte Sa   – Sun Feb 21, 8:37 am ET




People look on as a street with vehicles is engulfed by heavy flooding in downtown Funchal, Madeira February 20, 2010.
REUTERS/Duarte Sa


FUNCHAL, Portugal (Reuters) – Portuguese rescue workers using bulldozers searched on Sunday for more bodies under debris after violent floods and mudslides killed at least 40 people on the resort island of Madeira.

Authorities flew more rescue teams and military engineers from the mainland to help the Atlantic island where a heavy rainstorm on Saturday unleashed floods and mudslides, washing away bridges, blocking roads with rocks and mud and cutting off parts of the island.

Pedro Barbosa, deputy chief of the regional civil protection service, told Reuters one village, Curral das Freiras, was still cut off and could only be contacted by radio.

"We know there are some victims there, not a high number, but we will only know the details when rescuers reach the village later today," he said.

Francisco Ramos, the regional secretary for social affairs, told reporters there were 40 confirmed deaths on Madeira, which lies about 1,000 km (625 miles) southwest of Lisbon.

"We hope this number will not rise, but it probably will given the circumstances of this deluge," he said. "All teams are in the field working ... We will continue looking for bodies, we are awaiting teams from the continent."

Cars were swept away by the torrents and some houses were destroyed or damaged on Saturday. Barbosa said about 120 people were injured and 300 spent the night in temporary shelters.

Ramos gave no estimate of the number of people missing, saying these were unreliable as many of the people initially unaccounted for were returning home on Sunday from temporary shelters after being unable to communicate with their families when mobile networks failed.

Alberto Joao Jardim, the leader of the regional government, said there had been "no serious incident" involving the tourism sector on the island.

Many of the tourists on Madeira, which held its popular annual Carnival parades last week, were Britons visiting for the half-term school holiday.

"Our hotel is not full at this time, but we have lots of guests from all over Europe -- Britons, Dutch, Germans. Thank God, everyone is safe and from what we know there have been no victims among tourists elsewhere," said a clerk at the Windsor Hotel in Funchal who did not want to be identified.

Many tourists could be seen in Funchal on Sunday taking pictures of the damage as the weather improved.

"The hotel is empty now, everyone is in the streets," said an administration worker at the Monte Carlo hotel.

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates visited Madeira late on Saturday, pledging "all aid that the regional government requires in this serious situation."

A military transport plane with rescue teams, including divers, was due to arrive in Funchal later on Sunday. A navy frigate was heading for the island to help with the search effort and the reconstruction of bridges.

Meteorologists said the amount of rainfall that fell in one day on Saturday exceeded the monthly average, but no heavy rainfall was expected on Madeira over the next few days.

(Reporting by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Andrew Dobbie)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100221/ts_nm/us_portugal_madeira_floods

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