PORTUGAL: Madeira begins to bury flood victims

Record ID: 233346

  • Title: PORTUGAL: Madeira begins to bury flood victims
  • Date: 24th February 2010
  • Summary: SANTO ANTONIO, MADEIRA , PORTUGAL (FEBRUARY 23, 2010) (REUTERS) ENTRANCE TO CEMETERY PEOPLE ENTERING CEMETERY FOR FUNERAL VARIOUS OF PEOPLE INSIDE CEMETERY MOURNING FLOOD VICTIMS TOMB STONES FLOWERS CEMETERY CROSS ON TOMB VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WATCHING FUNERAL FROM THEIR HOME PRIEST ARRIVING RIBERA BRAVA, MADEIRA, PORTUGAL (FEBRUARY 23, 2010) (REUTERS) RIBERA BRAVA
  • Embargoed: 11th March 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Portugal
  • Country: Portugal
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Weather
  • Reuters ID: LVA55PFFWWHZS3C5YJ6JRQ6QN6NS
  • Story Text: Madeira starts burying the dead after floods kill at least 42, as the clean-up operation continues.
    Funerals began on Tuesday (February 23) for some of the 42 victims of the flash floods which hit parts of the Portuguese island of Madeira on Saturday.
    Since the floods, Portugal has been observing three days of national mourning and a constant stream of people arrived at the Santo Antonio cemetery to pay their respects.
    The number of people missing on the resort island jumped on Monday, raising fears the death toll in Portugal's worst natural disaster in a decade may rise sharply, officials said.
    Rescue workers have scrambled to find survivors and clean up after torrential rains on Saturday turned streams into gushing rivers that blasted through the island's capital, overturning cars, destroying houses and blocking roads.
    The number of residents reporting relatives as missing rose to 32 on Monday as communications were re-established, far above the previous missing number of four. The official death toll is 42.
    Joao Cunha e Silva, vice-president of semi-autonomous Madeira's government, said 42 people had been confirmed dead and 370 had been left homeless on the island, which receives thousands of northern European tourists every year.
    Rescue work initially focused on the capital, Funchal, but as roads on the mountainous island were gradually reopened, it became clear the floods had also struck villages in the interior.
    Earlier on Monday, the government in Lisbon promised to send financial aid to Madeira quickly.
    The government said it would ask for solidarity funds from the European Union to help rebuild infrastructure on the island, which lies some 1,000 km (625 miles) southwest of Lisbon.
    The storm on Saturday unleashed floods and mudslides on the Atlantic island, washing away bridges and burying houses under tonnes of mud. The dead included one British national.
    The loss of life was the highest in Portugal since a bridge over the Douro River collapsed in 2001, killing 59 people.
    Officials are closely watching weather forecasts, which predict no heavy rain for Madeira in coming days, but Portugal's winter has been unusually wet. More rain fell on Saturday alone than the average for the entire month.
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