Portugal Situation Report Thursday 18^th August 2022

Good morning, Firstly apologies for the one day delay in publishing our weekly report.

Tuesday was a very busy day with three of us travelling to Lisbon to hold meetings, firstly with the Turismo de Portugal and afterwards visiting the IPMA.

Both meetings were very productive. Our morning meeting discussed communication in the area of tourism concerning major incidents and rural fire awareness and prevention. In the afternoon, our meeting with the IPMA was mainly to learn more about the subject focusing on new developments.

At the IPMA we learned about various patterns that impact our daily weather, such as the position of the predominant high pressure system near the Azores. How this system moves influences the chance of rain and causes the variation in temperature throughout the Iberian Peninsula. Another issue of interest was the warming of sea water and how this can impact on weather conditions.

This is very helpful to us in monitoring the weather and in particular in managing our new Facebook group, Safe Communities Northern Portugal Situation Alerts. On this topic we are very pleased that just 12 days after forming we have around 560 members. Our visit in fact to IMPA confirmed our reasons for forming the group, due in part to the extreme weather conditions particularly in the northeast.

We have luckily so far seen a rather calmer August compared to July, as far as high temperatures are concerned, but unfortunately the news for September is not so good. The Minister of Internal Administration, who visited the IPMA a day following our visit, warned that “we are going to enter a third heat wave from the 20th, which will last for September”. (See news report below). We therefore need to be prepared and do everything possible to prevent fires, and if they do start what action to take.

Portugal is the country with the highest percentage of burned area in Europe in relation to the size of the country, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). The area burned in the country since January has already exceeded 84 thousand hectares of bush and forest. Portugal is at the top of the percentage of burned area and is the third with the largest burned area, behind Romania and Spain.

This is bad news and clearly shows how extreme weather conditions are influencing rural fire ignitions and the spread and intensity of rural fires. The main cause remains human negligence.

Although 90% of fires are brought under a conclusion in less than 90 minutes, there are those that continue much longer, mainly due to weather conditions that have a considerable adverse effect on effective firefighting, and example being the Serra da Estrela fire, at the time of writing under resolution.

With that please have a Safe week

News

MAI: “We will enter a third heat wave that will last through September”

The Minister of Internal Administration, José Luís Carneiro, warned this Wednesday that the country will face a new heat wave starting on August 20, which will last into September.

Speaking to the press, after a visit to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA), the Minister of Internal Administration warned that “we are going to enter a third heat wave from the 20th, which will last for September”.

“We will have in September, as a rule, warmer weather than in previous Septembers. Between 50% and 60% hotter and between 40% and 50% drier”, said José Luís Carneiro, reiterating that “this says everything about the added risks that we will have to face” until the end of the summer.

These meteorological conditions “require an increased effort from us”, so the minister appealed to “the entire effort of the national community, in cooperation, which is indispensable”.

However, this new heat wave cannot be considered more serious than the previous ones. “The most critical heat wave was in July”, said José Luís Carneiro.

“The worst peak of this wave must correspond to the most critical moments of the second heat wave” this year, he added.

“The danger of rural fire in Portugal is still in the middle of the campaign, we went through a heat wave of great intensity and that reached temperatures that almost reached fifty degrees, we went through a second wave with less intensity, but even so with great impact and we will experience a third heat wave probably within days”, reiterated IPMA president Jorge Miguel Miranda.

Jorge Miguel Miranda added that “the forecasts are not very positive” in terms of precipitation and that September will probably be “a little drier and a little warmer, as has been the case in previous months”.

“The problem of the danger of rural fire is still in the middle of the campaign”, he warned, referring further ahead that the third heat wave should be felt from the 20th.

“We are reaching the middle of August. We have passed July and half of August, but half of August is missing, September is missing and we don’t know how many days of October. The forecasts are not very positive in terms of precipitation”, said the official, adding: “The situation in Europe will perhaps still be worse than the average in Portugal, but we have a natural system that is tremendously fragile and we still have at least a month and a half ahead of us to be able to overcome it”.

Jorge Miguel Miranda also conveyed to citizens the message that “the effort made so far was important”, it did not solve all the problems because “it is not possible to solve all the problems”, but “the effort must continue, increasingly strict”.

Dealing with emergencies

Dealing with an emergency and calling 112 can be a stressful time, so having information immediately available will help you in summoning help.

Safe Communities Portugal has designed a poster to help you in this respect. Download it in English and Portuguese here: https://www.safecommunitiesportugal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Emergency-Information-and-Contacts-.pdf

Please fill in and place in a conspicuous place in your home, inside entrance doors for instance. If you family and friends staying with you, ensure they are aware. If you rent a property to clients also ensure they are aware. Our thanks to ANEPC in supporting this initiative.

Judicial Police expansion

Lisbon, Aug 17, 2022 (Lusa) – The Judicial Police wants to reach a staff of 1,800 inspectors in the next two years, as part of a reinforcement plan negotiated with the Government and which the national director hopes to see included in the next State Budget.

“The proposal that the PJ has is that in a couple of years we can reach 1,800 inspectors and we are very legitimately expectant, positively expectant, that this plan will meet our desire”, said the national director of the Judiciary Police (PJ). ), Luís Neves, to journalists, at the end of the inauguration of two new directors, which took place at the headquarters of this police in Lisbon.

According to the national director, the current staff has about 1,250 inspectors, more than the 968 that existed when the current PJ management took office, but still below what Luís Neves says is currently a “recovery” path, but “still not of growth”, and which contrasts with a previous lack of resources, as he mentioned in his speech at the ceremony.

“There must be this phase of growth and we have a commitment to the Government, which is a commitment to have a plan for the allocation of human resources for the first time and that is what I hope will be approved. We are no longer in a vicious spiral of death to be in a spiral of serving the country and the criminal investigation. At the moment we are satisfied because we feel that there is a ‘turn around’ in relation to what the institution wants”, he said.

Luís Neves’ expectation is that “until the voting phase” of the next State Budget, the PJ will be able to know what “the future holds”.