Month: November 2019

Ponta Delgada, Portugal, Nov. 8, 2019 (Lusa) – As of Friday, the government of the Azores has decided to put an end to the energy crisis concerning diesel fuel on the islands of Flores and Corvo following the recent passage of hurricane Lorenzo through the archipelago.

In a press release, the regional government pointed out that order 1593/2019 of 3 October, amended by order 1757/2019 of 31 October, which declared the situation of energy crisis in the islands of Flores and Corvo, will be updated and republished shortly in the state journal

“The amendment, which takes effect from today [Friday], determines the end of the energy crisis on Flores and Corvo, concerning road diesel and coloured and marked diesel used in agriculture and fisheries,” it said.

The decision is because it is now possible to supply Flores with 363,000 litres of diesel, leaving the island with a current stock of 600,000 litres.

This supply, which began on Monday afternoon and ended on Wednesday afternoon, was only possible due to the intervention of the tugboat “Pêro de Teive”, owned by the public company Portos dos Açores, which helped the ship “São Jorge”, carrying out the transfer of fuel to the island, in an exceptional operation.

The energy crisis continues only for petrol.

During the passage of “Lorenzo” through the Azores in early October, 255 occurrences were recorded, and 53 people had to be relocated.

The passage destroyed the port of Lajes das Flores, which put the supply to the Western group at risk.

In total, the bad weather caused damage of about €330 million, according to the Azores regional government.

On 14 October, the region’s president, Vasco Cordeiro, requested financial assistance from the state and the activation of the European Union Solidarity Fund.

A week later, the Portuguese government said that it would cover 85% of the damage and speed up procedures to restore the destroyed infrastructure.

The announcement was made by Vasco Cordeiro, in Lisbon, after a meeting with the prime minister, António Costa, and with the ministers of economy and planning, Pedro Siza Vieira and Nelson de Souza, respectively.

According to Vasco Cordeiro, at the meeting, the government assumed without reservation the duty of solidarity with the Azores, as had been requested by the regional government.

On Friday, the governor has scheduled a hearing in Lisbon with the prime minister.

 

A Tera Treme – National Seismic Risk Awareness Exercise November 15 at 11:15 pm

The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) will hold the 7th edition of the national seismic risk awareness exercise, called A TERRA TREME (www.aterratreme.pt) on 15th November at 11:15 am ).

The exercise TERRA TREME is promoted annually by ANEPC, in partnership with the Directorate General of Education (DGE) and the Directorate General of School Establishments (DGEsTE), and aims to empower the population to know how to act before, during and after earthquake, namely that it knows preventive measures and self-protection behaviours to be adopted to protect itself.

The exercise itself comprises the practice of 3 simple gestures that can make a difference to those who practice them in the event of an earthquake. The action takes place during 1 minute, in which participants, individually or collectively (families, schools, companies, public, private or associative institutions), perform the 3 self-protection gestures: Download – Protect – Wait.

In addition to the school age population, whose adherence to the initiative has been significant, ANEPC has the goal of successively widening, year after year, the reflection and debate on the theme of seismic risk and the participation in this initiative to other sectors of civil society. To this end, we consider it strategic to involve organizations – public, private and associative – in this collective purpose, seeking to this end to join efforts and extract synergies from the whole of society, so that individual and collective degrees of resilience are achieved.

Although the exercise has national expression, ANEPC will hold, in coordination with DGE and DGEstE, a main event at Sebastião e Silva Secondary School, in Oeiras, located at Rua do Liceu 61.

Throughout the country, District Relief Operations Commands (CDOS) will, in partnership with local communities, fire associations, municipal civil protection services, other civil protection agents and schools, promote awareness raising on seismic risk and self-protection measures to cope with it, as well as streamline the implementation of the A TERRA TREME Exercise, at a date and time agreed for that purpose.

In the context of the TERRA TREME Exercise, ANEPC created:

Digital The digital website www.aterratreme.pt, where information about the Exercise and dissemination resources can be obtained;

 The hashtag #aterratreme designed to identify personal / institutional publications related to the initiative on social networks.

ANEPC proposes to all citizens, in addition to participating in the exercise itself, the following actions:

Individual Individual and / or Institution registration on the digital website (www.aterratreme.pt/subscribe);

 Response to a survey aimed at assessing the degree of perception of seismic risk (www.aterratreme.pt/inquiry);

 Conduct an evacuation exercise based on an earthquake scenario on 15-11-2019, preferably at 11:15 am, the date and time chosen for the exercise TERRA TREME;

 Holding an awareness session on preventive measures and self-protection behaviours to be adopted in the event of an earthquake;

 Disclosure on the website and other digital media of the respective institution, the initiative (in the form of banners, email signatures, etc.);

 Dissemination of the allusive exercise video spot (available on the digital site).

ANEPC, DGE and DGEsTE invite citizens and entities to register at www.aterratreme.pt as a demonstration of their personal / institutional commitment to the cause of safety and security, and as a means of public support and expression.

On 5^th November 2019, the World Tsunami Awareness Day is promoting the “Sendai Seven Campaign” which focuses on reducing disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services.

Tsunamis are rare events, but can be extremely deadly.  In the past 100 years, 58 of them have claimed more than 260,000 lives, or an average of 4,600 per disaster, surpassing any other natural hazard. The highest number of deaths in that period was in the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004. It caused an estimated 227,000 fatalities in 14 countries, with Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand hardest-hit.

Over 700 million people live in low-lying coastal areas and Small Island Developing States exposed to extreme sea-level events including tsunamis (IPCC).

Tsunami is a series of giant waves. In Japanese, tsunami means ‘Harbour Wave’. A wave is created when energy passes through water. Moving air or wind provides energy to water, forming regular waves.

While on the ocean floor, when a tectonic plate suddenly slides beneath the other, the resulting earthquake releases tremendous amount of energy. This energy spreads outward from the point of earthquake, triggering waves that can form tsunami. Initially, these waves are small in size but they travel at great speeds. However, when the waves approach the shore, the rising seabed obstructs the energy of waves. This slows down the speed of waves. But the energy flux must remain constant leading to an increase in height of the waves, thus resulting in tsunami.

Borba Volunteer Firefighters were attacked and beaten early on Saturday within their own headquarters by a group of “about 20 people”. Two persons were injured.

According to Fire Commander Joaquim Branco, “around 0.30 hrs, a group of about 20 Roma people went to the station to make an alleged distress call for a person who was unconscious, but was not”. “Firefighters asked if they had called 112, but they said “no” nor had to do it, and what they required was help for a situation that did not really match the initial information.”

After responding that the Integrated Emergency Medical System had to be informed and activated, one of the group “punched a fire fighter” and, after the firemen closed the door, the attackers broke the windows, and through various items at another firefighter.

The group then broke into the barracks and chased other volunteers who fled and hid. Only after the GNR were called and responded through a patrol in the Évora district, and a car from the PSP Intervention Corps, did the attackers leave.  The two firefighters were treated at Estremoz Health Centre. The GNR stayed in place to control the situation.

Although the injuries were “not serious,” the firefighters were “very psychologically affected,” the commander said. The picket that remained for the rest of the night in the barracks was accompanied by a GNR patrol. No one has yet been identified or arrested.

he commander also revealed that some security-enhancing measures will be taken, namely “raising alert levels, coordinating with the Republican National Guard, notably Borba’s post, with the aim of providing sufficient support for situations that prove to be worrying ” because” there have been more situations, but not with such seriousness. ”