Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 22nd June 2022

Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 22^nd June 2022

Good morning – Five years ago this week was Portugal’s largest fire at Pedrogão Grande which resulted in the deaths of 65 people and around 204 injured with tremendous devastation to the area. The situation was repeated just four months later with extensive fires in the centre of Portugal whereupon and 45 people died. A year later in August 2018 there was the Monchique fire, where although no one died, there was extensive damage to property and people’s livelihoods plus some 37,000 hectares of land burned.

From the 2017 tragedies there have been many changes, which have boosted the growth of a stronger, more cohesive and objective civil protection culture – but there is still more to do, especially in getting communities more closely involved.

All these devastating fires have one thing in common and that is in the lead up to the fires the country at the time was in severe drought and temperatures were far higher than usual – in fact a similar situation to this year, except the drought situation is now is even more acute, two thirds the mainland at extreme drought.

It is therefore essential more than ever that people know what to do should a fire break out, and approaches your home. Do you await the arrival of the firefighters, who may not be able to reach you quickly, or do you attempt to leave your home? In a major fire situation where the fire has intensified to a point it has become out of control, attempting to leave your home could have drastic if not fatal consequences, as was the case in the Pedrogão Grande fire. Knowing the level of protection that the construction of your house affords in case of rural fires, and having a plan and knowing what to do if such a situation should arise, is therefore in everyone’s interest, especially those living in high risk areas.

In order to address such issues the Escola Nacional de Bombeiros organized what was an excellent webinar on Monday this week where expert speakers address some of these issues particular the subject of evacuations. There were many learning points, particularly on how fires intensify and the impact this has on firefighting capacity. Basically the more it intensifies the less likelihood that it can be extinguished, hampering rescue operations and therefore the greater the likelihood of casualties if near populated areas.

It seems a pity therefore, that despite the widespread promotion of this event on various social media sites, and that it was over-subscribed on zoom, there appears few, if any from the foreign community who attended this, apart from three of us at Safe Communities. It included an excellent presentation on evacuations, which was in English! It is a sad point I feel that whereas active fires taking place will always garner interest on social media, preventive measures invariably receive less attention.

So my message is to take advantages of the opportunities out there, including our own website, to increase your awareness and knowledge of fires, because by doing so you will be more informed and more prepared, thus reducing the risk of injury, or worse, to yourself and family members should a major fire develop!

The theme of prevention, again is highlighted in a dangerous wells campaign we have recently launched, highlighting that with over 70 deaths and more injured through well accidents over the last five years, more preventive steps need to be taken by owners to cover their wells. This gained a fair response, but it is only after an accident takes place that you see the greater response. On Monday a foal fell into a well in Lagos and was thankfully rescued, requiring the deployment of 10 Bombeiros. This need not have happened if the owners had covered the well as required by law. Hopefully the “rescuers” will report this to the Lagos municipality so that enforcement action can be taken.

Finally – The arrival of hot weather and summer means that more time is spent outdoors. Whether at the beach, in the pool or even in the countryside, people are also much more exposed to the sun and, therefore, to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. It is with the aim of helping people stay safe and protected that the WHO have launched the SunSmart Global UV App, an application that serves to alert to the levels of UV radiation. The app is available free of charge, in six languages on both the Apple App and Google Play stores for Iphones and Androids. Very helpful especially when travelling to countries with high UV levels.

With that have a safe day.

News

Government announces campaigns for efficient use of water

Lisbon, June 21, 2022 (Lusa) – The Government announced today that it will launch campaigns to promote the efficient use of water from July, aimed at all types of consumers, with monthly meetings to monitor the situation until the end of September.

The measures were announced today by the Minister of Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, at a joint press conference with the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Maria do Céu Antunes, after the two ministers presided over the 9th Meeting of the Permanent Commission on Prevention, Monitoring and Accompaniment of the Effects of Drought, in which an assessment of the situation was made regarding the meteorological, hydrological, hydro-agricultural situation, crops and animal watering, and the assessment of critical situations.

The ministers recalled that, according to official forecasts, 34% of the country is in severe drought and 66% is in extreme drought, and that rain forecasts will not reverse the situation.

Data from the Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera indicate that this year is the driest on record (since 1931) and that only the year 2005 approached the current situation, so the meteorological and agrometeorological drought “forces to take measures ”.

At the beginning of February, there had already been a meeting of the Commission, at which measures were announced and taken, which will now be complemented with others, and, guaranteed Duarte Cordeiro, water for human consumption is safeguarded for two years.

Major Carvalho, one of the biggest drug traffickers in the world, was captured

MAJOR CARVALHO, ONE OF THE LARGEST COCAINE TRAFFICKERS IN THE WORLD CAPTURED

Former Brazilian major Sérgio de Carvalho, considered one of the biggest cocaine traffickers in the world and who was on the run in Lisbon for about two years, was captured this Tuesday in Hungary.

According to information gathered by JN, the fugitive, whom Portuguese and Brazilian authorities had seized 11.7 million euros in a van in Lisbon and almost forty planes in Brazil, was in Hungary with a forged Mexican passport.

Sérgio de Carvalho lived in Lisbon for almost two years. With international arrest warrants on him, this 62-year-old former Brazilian Military Police major managed to go unnoticed in the Portuguese capital, using three false identities and two apartments between 2019 and 2020.

In November 2020, when the Brazilian Federal Police and several European police forces advanced with a major search and arrest operation, Sérgio de Carvalho narrowly escaped our Judiciary.

Since then, there have been rumours about the drug trafficker’s whereabouts as different as Dubai and the Azores, but his arrest has only now been achieved, with the collaboration of police from different countries and the intervention of Europol.

Researchers launch website for owners of pets with cancer

Porto, June 21, 2022 (Lusa) – Researchers from the Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto (ISPUP) launched an online platform aimed at owners of pet animals with cancer, which aims to provide “credible” information and characterize risk factors associated with the development of the disease in animals.

Speaking to Lusa, Kátia Pinello, researcher at ISPUP and professor at the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), clarified today that the ‘website’, entitled ‘Pet-OncoNet’, arises from the logic of ‘Uma Saúde’ (‘One Health’ in English) and the need to fill “a knowledge gap in this area”.

“We feel that tutors feel lost when dealing with the diagnosis of cancer in four-legged companions”, said the researcher, who is one of the coordinators of the project.

Launched to provide “credible, accurate and useful” information about companion animals, the digital platform includes, for example, data on the dog breeds most predisposed to the development of tumours, ways to detect cancer early in the pet, but also information on ongoing clinical trials and procedures to support the animal during treatment.

“Our goal is to create a community that studies and shares information about veterinary oncology in all aspects”, he said.

Consulted by Lusa, the website shows that in Portugal, the main tumours in companion animals are located in the skin, followed by mammary tumours.

In addition to providing information, the objective of the platform is also to characterize the risk factors associated with the development of cancer in animals and humans.

In order to proceed with the characterization of risk factors, the researchers are inviting all tutors and owners of companion animals – cats and dogs – to respond to an epidemiological survey, which will be available on the website until the end of December. October.

The results obtained within the scope of the survey will later be published on the initiative’s website. The researchers also want to create a “psychological support group” to help owners deal with animal grief, an issue that “is still not very well accepted”.

Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 22nd June 2022 | Safe Communities Portugal

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