PORTUGAL: Rescuers use excavators and hands to sift through debris as floods on Madeira kill at least 42

Record ID: 513869

  • Title: PORTUGAL: Rescuers use excavators and hands to sift through debris as floods on Madeira kill at least 42
  • Date: 22nd February 2010
  • Summary: FUNCHAL, PORTUGAL (FEBRUARY 21, 2010) (REUTERS) MUD RUNNING THROUGH FUNCHAL STREET / EXCAVATOR DIGGING IN THE BACKGROUND EXCAVATORS AT WORK PEOPLE WALKING IN MUDDY STREET DIGGER SOLDIERS VARIOUS OF DEBRIS AND DESTRUCTION ON STREET VARIOUS OF EXCAVATORS REMOVING DEBRIS MUDDY STREET AND FIREMEN ON THE STREET FIREMAN VARIOUS OF EXCAVATORS AT WORK VARIOUS OF OUTDOOR
  • Embargoed: 9th March 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Portugal
  • Country: Portugal
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Weather
  • Reuters ID: LVA60736X376MJRY6F9JPGH06P3H
  • Story Text: Portuguese rescuers used excavators and their bare hands on Sunday (February 21) to sift through mud and debris for victims of violent floods and mudslides that killed at least 42 people on the resort island of Madeira.
    Officials said they feared more bodies had been washed away into the ocean after Saturday's (February 20) deluge, and flew in divers from the mainland to search for those drowned. Rescue work carried on late into Sunday.
    Regional Tourism and Transport Secretary Conceicao Estudante told a briefing four people were still missing.
    Miguel Albuquerque, the mayor of Madeira's capital Funchal, said some areas above the city were particularly badly hit.
    Saturday's heavy rainstorm unleashed floods and mudslides on the Atlantic island, washing bridges and burying some houses under tonnes of mud.
    Francisco Ramos, the regional secretary for social affairs, said there were 42 confirmed deaths on Madeira, which lies some 1,000 km (625 miles) southwest of Lisbon and is famous for its sandy beaches and fortified wine of the same name.
    "I've lived here for 40 years and I've never seen anything like this," a Funchal resident said.
    "It 's a total loss, I will have rebuild my shop. We are only happy because none of our employees died. We had a critical situation, one of our neighbours almost died in the shop, but the fire fighters managed to save him in time.A life of work has fallen through," said a shop owner.
    The government decreed three days of mourning and called an extraordinary cabinet meeting for Monday (February 21) to discuss the worst loss of life in Portugal since a bridge over the Douro River collapsed in 2001, killing 59 people.
    Many roads in Madeira were partially destroyed or blocked with rocks, trees and mud. It took civil protection services more than 24 hours to reach the village of Curral das Freiras, which had been cut off. Officials said one person had been killed and one was missing there.
    Officials said about 120 people were injured and 300 spent the night in temporary shelters. Some 240 lost their homes.
    A military transport plane with rescue teams arrived in Funchal on Sunday and a navy frigate was heading for the island to help with the search effort and reconstruction.
    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
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