Azores Situation Report Wednesday September 4th 2024

Family doctor coverage rate reaches 97% in São Miguel

According to the USISM management report, of the 150,277 users registered in the island’s health centres, only 4,331 did not have a family doctor at the end of 2023

The São Miguel Island Health Unit (USISM) presented in 2023 the highest rate of family doctor coverage in its history: of the more than 150 thousand registered users, 97% had a response at this level, leaving 4331 people without a family doctor.

Climatologist says Azores are not in an extreme situation

Portuguese climatology expert Eduardo Brito de Azevedo disagrees that the Azores are experiencing an unprecedented situation of “extreme drought”, considering that there is a balance in hydrological terms thanks to winter precipitation.

“The claim that we are experiencing an unprecedented drought is not quite true, in my opinion. Although August had a very significant anomaly in rainfall, in negative terms, in hydrological terms it is by no means the worst year in terms of water availability,” Brito de Azevedo told Lusa.

The Azores have recorded, particularly in the month of August, temperatures above normal summer values, with maximums of 29 and 30 degrees Celsius, along with low rainfall levels.

The retired specialist and professor – project manager of the Eastern North Atlantic (ENA), Graciosa Island ARM Facility, of the United States Department of Energy and the Los Alamos National Laboratory – stresses that “the fact that we have experienced a fairly long period of good weather does not mean that it is a period of extreme drought”.

The climatologist states that, in most of the Azores islands, there are no problems with water supply, which is ensured by winter, to supply the population.

“In agronomic terms, the month of August was, in fact, a month with a negative sign in terms of precipitation, with implications for agriculture, particularly for livestock fodder,” he says.

According to the environmental expert, this scenario is due to “the persistence of the Azores anticyclone, well located in the Atlantic”, which “has affected the weather”.

Brito de Azevedo states that “the air temperature anomaly between 1.5 and 2.5 degrees” is “particularly due to another anomaly, which is the temperature of the sea water on the surface, which was, particularly at the end of July and beginning of August, very significant and which should be a concern for all sectors that depend on the economy”.

“This anomaly in sea surface temperatures is what is giving a more worrying signal. The central Atlantic has warmed. In 2023, surface temperatures were the highest ever and, this year, this warming has continued particularly in the first months of the year,” explains the expert.

Brito de Azevedo points out that, “curiously, from July onwards, there is a tendency for some cooling, although a pocket of hot water remains in this area of ​​the Azores, in the central Atlantic, which has also caused the air temperature to rise”.

The expert states that this situation brings “some unpredictability in terms of the future, particularly because the sea, no longer regulating air temperature, as happens in thermoregulation, being warmer, can bring about significant climate changes” with an impact on marine ecosystems and the composition of marine fauna and flora.

“Whether this is a situation that will continue or not is an aspect that climatology cannot yet answer”, says the scientist, who points out that the thermal anomaly “influences the generation and path of tropical storms”.

According to Brito de Azevedo, at the beginning of August, everything indicated that “it would be a very complicated season in terms of tropical storms, but from mid-August onwards there was a cooling of the sea water temperature in the equatorial zones, where hurricanes begin”.

Regarding climate change, the expert stated that “it is already being felt” and that it will “translate more into climate irregularity”, with “the seasonality that the Azores were used to having been lost, both in winter and summer”.

 

 

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 21st August 2024

 

By our correspondent  in the Azores

 

Couple arrested in São Miguel with 38 kilos of drugs

The Judicial Police (PJ) announced that it carried out a police operation in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island, which led to the arrest of a couple, due to strong evidence of drug trafficking, and the seizure of 37.3 kilos of hashish, 362 grams of heroin and 309 grams of cocaine that were in their possession.

Azorean firefighters are operating in Madeira

Azorean volunteers arrived in Madeira on Monday to fight the fire that broke out on the island last Wednesday. “A lot of burned area and difficult access” was the scene they found

The group of 15 Azorean firefighters arrived in Madeira at 2:00 am local time on Monday morning to help fight the fire that broke out last Wednesday in the neighbouring archipelago.

Coordinating Inspector Luís Martins, who is accompanying the Azorean firefighters in Madeira, describes the scene they found upon arrival: “a lot of burned area and very difficult access. The active fronts are not fronts with large flames, but they are always very difficult to access, going up or down the slopes.”

The Coordinating Inspector guarantees that all the elements that travelled to Madeira Island “have training in fighting rural fires, they have knowledge of this type of operations and some have even been here during the 2016 fires, and performed excellently.”

According to Luís Martins, the group of Azorean volunteers, which is based in the 3rd Garrison Regiment, located in Funchal, is working “in harmony with local entities”, more specifically with the local fire departments.

“Civil Protection assigned the mission, and we fulfilled that mission”, assures Luís Martins, adding that the operation is expected “to take an average of three to five days, but there is no information on a return date for now.”

“We are evolving in our operations and doing the best we can, according to what we are instructed to do,” he added.

“We will now carry out reconnaissance on land, together with the Joint Operational Force that is in Madeira”, concluded Luís Martins.

The fire continues to burn for the fifth consecutive day and currently has two active fronts in the municipalities of Ponta do Sol and Ribeira Brava.

Man attacked with a sharp weapon in Ponta Delgada

A 35-year-old man was attacked yesterday with a sharp weapon in Ponta Delgada, and was taken to the CUF Hospital, where the Emergency Department currently operates.

Three arrested for attempted murder in Ribeira Grande

The PSP arrested, this Friday morning, three individuals, suspected of attempting to commit murder, in the parish of Ribeirinha.

The case dates back to the early hours of August 4th, when the men, aged between 30 and 50, broke down the door of the victim’s house, a man in his 30s. Armed with baseball bats and knives, the trio violently attacked the victim, who was left prostrate and in need of hospital care.

The suspected attackers, who have criminal records for drug trafficking, left the scene without taking any property from the victim’s home, which appears to point to a crime involving a drug deal.

When called, the PSP carried out urgent investigations, having arrested the three suspects this morning, in compliance with a warrant issued by the Public Prosecutor of Ribeira Grande.

 

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 14th August 2024

 

By our correspondent in the Azores

 Video surveillance in the historic centre of Ponta Delgada awaits opinion

The installation of the video surveillance system in the historic centre of Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel, is awaiting the opinion of the National Data Protection Commission, the City Council says.

Azores under yellow warning given forecast of high temperatures

Maximum temperatures can reach 30 degrees and minimum temperatures can be around 24 degrees at night. The problem is that the temperature persists for a long time.

The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) has placed the islands of the three groups of the Azores under yellow alert due to the forecast of high maximum temperatures between today and Thursday, as reported to the media.

We are expecting maximum temperatures to be around 29 degrees across the archipelago. Occasionally, they could reach 30 degrees in urban areas.

The IPMA indicated in a statement that the warning regarding “persistent high maximum temperature values” is in force between 12:00 today, Tuesday, and 11:00 on Thursday, the 15th, on all islands of the archipelago, in the Eastern, Central and Western groups.

Reopening of closed thermal areas in São Miguel depends on new analyses

The Regional Health Directorate of the Azores said this Friday that the reopening of the three thermal zones on the island of São Miguel, closed since July due to microbiological contamination, is dependent on the results of new analyses.

The thermal areas of Caldeira Velha, Poça da Dona Beija and Parque Terra Nostra, on the island of São Miguel, have been closed since July 26th, by decision of the health authorities, as water analyses showed “positive results for microbiological contamination”.

According to a statement from the Regional Secretariat for Health and Social Security, in July, the Regional Health Directorate (DRS), in conjunction with the health authorities of Ribeira Grande and Povoação, and the Health Unit of Ilha de São Miguel, carried out an environmental investigation with water samples from the three locations.

The laboratory analysis of the collected samples was carried out by the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge (INSA) and, following the known results, the authorities decided to determine the immediate closure, exclude the public from the tank area, carry out a shock disinfection, carry out drainage, cleaning and disinfection of the equipment, among other measures.

After the tanks were filled, new analyses were carried out. The results, known between August 1st and 5th, indicated that the water samples from the Poça da Dona Beija, Parque Terra Nostra and Caldeira Velha pools presented “positive results, but with a significant decrease in the concentration of the previously identified microbiological agent (over 95% reduction)”.

“After a meeting involving several technical entities in the sector, the strategy presented by DRS was unanimously accepted, which is why the tanks were drained, cleaned and disinfected and the third [water] analyses were collected at these locations, on the 6th and 7th of August”.

According to the statement, “the results are expected to be received over the next week”.

“It was also agreed that, if the results continue to decline, it will be possible to reopen these spaces, respecting the rules for their use”, it states.

The DRS praises the “continuous commitment and collaboration of the entities managing the spaces” and highlights that, together with the health authorities of the Azores, “all measures” will be taken to defend Public Health in the region.

The note highlights that these water systems “offer ideal conditions for the colonization, multiplication and dissemination of some microbiological agents, namely bacteria”.

 

 

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 7th August 2024

 

From our correspondent in the Azores

Yacht catches fire with seven people on board

A local yacht caught fire this on Monday 5 miles from Vila Franca do Campo. The seven crew members were rescued by a nearby maritime tourist vessel and are now ashore.

According to the captain of the Port of Ponta Delgada, Commander Rafael da Silva, the seven crew members “were unharmed, in good health and do not require medical care”.

According to information from the Maritime Authority, the fire on the 13-meter-long sailboat, based in the port of Vila Franca do Campo, is believed to have started in the engine room and was initially fought by the crew, but without success, having spread to the rest of the boat.

The presence of a maritime-tourist vessel in the vicinity made it possible to avoid greater harm: having spotted the column of black smoke – which was visible from land, according to several reports – it approached the sailboat and aided the crew, transporting them safely to land.

The alert was given via 112, at around 5:02 pm, to the Ponta Delgada Search and Rescue Coordination Centre, with the Volunteer Firefighters of Vila Franca do Campo taking over the fight against the flames with six operators, which were declared as “apparently extinguished” at 8:08 pm. “Despite the efforts made, the vessel ended up sinking at a depth of around 1,000 meters”, revealed Captain Rafael da Silva, adding that “Given the condition of the vessel at the time it sank, no pollution incidents are expected”.

 

Free minibus for students and over 65s

Starting this Friday, all students and people over 65 can travel on the minibus network for free.

The regulation exempting payment of the “student monthly pass” and “senior monthly pass 65+” for minibuses, from Ponta Delgada City Council, is now in force, after publication in the Official Gazette.