Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 18th October 2023
Good morning. Well, if anyone doubted that autumn had arrived, the weather over the last two days from the passing of from Depression Babet, has made up for that.
As is often the case, however, the majority of the rains fell mainly in the Centre and north of the mainland, being less so in the south, where rain is badly need. However the region did experience some heavy showers particularly in Faro, as described by Mike Evans in his Algarve report. To alleviate the drought situation there is a need for persistent rain, probably over several weeks to have any real impact, so that the soil is properly saturated.
As I write this a further period of rain and winds is forecast for 19th/20th with: heavy rain, strong wind and rough seas warnings in place. However this will make little long term difference, the main immediate impact being isolated localised flooding and damaged caused by fallen trees.
ANEPC asks people to be aware of the possibility of falling branches and trees, as a result of stronger wind. Safe Communities suggests therefore to avoid parking your car under trees particularly if the tree is looking in poor condition, if at all possible. With heavy rain the tree is more susceptible to damage, either the possibility of being uprooted or falling branches.
Due to the weather condition we have been posting regular forecasts, warnings and events on our new Safe Communities Portugal Protection against Natural Disasters Facebook Group page. This provides important information and advice which, if followed, will help keep people safe by reducing the impact of weather hazards such as the very high winds in some places. We are pleased to announce therefore that in the first 100 days since it was launched the number of members currently stands at just over 2600, with around 10-15 people joining each day at present! Needless to say we are very pleased with this progress which, is a reflection of interest being shown in the topics we are covering.
Often people fall for scams through being a victim to fraudulent websites – but how do you tell id a website is fraudulent? One of our Facebook followers kindly sent this very useful advice earlier this week. He explains “When the website opens, look in the search bar, it will show the name of the site, (the URL). Just to the left of it, is a symbol (in Safari and Google) it is a lock, which tells you that the site has an encrypted connection). Click this lock. On the small panel that opens is a button marked ‘Show Certificate’ or “Connection is Secure” followed by “Certificate is Valid”. Click this and you will see who the site is registered to. You can check if the certificate is in date. If a site looks a bit off then check this certificate and then if – and only if – you believe the site to be genuine, then enter the site. Cyber criminals are really clever at cloning sites but the certificate should tell the truth”.
Lastly a return to the weather. It appears from the warnings and weather maps that following an improvement today 18th, that the weather will generally deteriorate on 19th/20th October, with more warnings at orange level, with rough seas with waves that could reach up to 14 metres in height in some areas of the west coast and wind gusts up to 110 km/h, especially on the coast and in the highlands. As such it is very important to monitor the warnings in place and the advice to the public.
With that our team wishes you a safe and nice week ahead.
News
Civil Protection records around 400 incidents across the country due to the weather
394 incidents were recorded, of which 142 in the municipality of Lisbon and 42 in the Setúbal Peninsula. The incidents are mainly related to falling trees, falling structures, cleaning roads and flooding.
The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority recorded 394 events related to bad weather between 8pm 16thand 7am 17th October 2023, the majority in Greater Lisbon and the Setúbal Peninsula, which did not cause any casualties.
No one can guarantee that there is no terrorism in any country in the world”
President Marcelo was in the country this Tuesday where all the attention was focused due to an attack, which caused the death of two people. Despite this “context of concern”, the head of state states that he “learned” what happened and Europe, in particular, has structures prepared to prevent and act in the face of terrorist acts.
The first day of the Portuguese head of state’s visit to Belgium was marked by a terrorist attack that killed two people. Without wanting to “speculate”, President Marcelo highlights that “unpredictability” is one of the characteristics of terrorism, but assures that “the structures in Europe” and in Portugal are “prepared to prevent and try to confront” these situations.
Marcelo was already in Brussels, for a state visit to the country, when it was news around the world that two people had been shot by an individual in the heart of Brussels. From the outset, in a note published on the Presidency’s website, “he expressed his solidarity with King Philippe of the Belgians and King Charles Gustav of Sweden, and his condemnation of the attack (…) which killed innocent Swedish citizens”.
By Tuesday, “normality” appears to have returned to the city, he highlighted in statements to journalists, with “very quick and effective action of the Belgian authorities”.
Still, he highlighted, “it is clear that everyone is aware that one of the characteristics of terrorism is its unpredictability. (…) That was the word he wanted to give: no one can guarantee that there is no terrorism in any country in the world.”
Now “what is certain is that the structures in Europe, and clearly in Portugal, are naturally prepared to prevent and try to face, as far as possible, this situation”.