Azores Situation Report Wednesday 26th June 2024

 

By our correspondent in the Azores

Fire brigades that helped fight the fire at HDES will be decorated

Praceta do Açor Arena, in Vila Franca do Campo, will host next Saturday, at 2:30 pm, the Portuguese Firefighters League Ceremony, organized by the Humanitarian Association of Volunteer Firefighters of Vila Franca do Campo, with the support of the Azores Firefighters Federation.

This ceremony will include the imposition of decorations to thank the five voluntary firefighters associations of São Miguel for their performance in fighting the fire that broke out on May 4th at the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo (HDES), in Ponta Delgada.

The ceremony will be presided over by the Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Action, Alonso Miguel, who oversees the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service (SRPCBA). The event will also be attended by the president of the Municipal Council of Vila Franca do Campo, Ricardo Rodrigues, the president of the League of Portuguese Firefighters, António Nunes, the president of the SRPCBA, Rui Andrade, and the president of the Azores Firefighters Federation, Braia Ferreira. The event will also be attended by the presidents of the firefighters associations of Ponta Delgada, Ribeira Grande, Vila Franca do Campo, Povoação, Nordeste and commanders of the respective bodies, in addition to the president of the League’s Congress Table, Luís Barreiros, and the Secretary of the League, Joaquim Mitra.  The fire that broke out at HDES, on May 4th and forced the transfer of all patients who were admitted to this health unit. At the time, 333 patients were at HDES, and it was necessary to transfer 240. The most critical and serious patients were transferred to the CUF hospital, in the city of Lagoa, and the rest to health centres.

At this moment, the Ponta Delgada hospital is resuming its activity in a phased manner, and it is certain that the Regional Government intends for the modular hospital, within the HDES area (in the heliport area), to begin operating in the month of August, in an investment valued at around 10 million euros.

PJ arrests young man with 16 kilos of drugs on Terceira Island

A 19-year-old young man was detained by the Judiciary Police (PJ) on the island of Terceira, in the Azores, in possession of more than 16 kilos of drugs and was awaiting trial in pre-trial detention, it was revealed today.

According to the Criminal Investigation Department of the PJ of the Azores, the young man was arrested in flagrante delicto, due to “strong indications” of the crime of drug trafficking.

The source said in a statement that, at the time of his arrest, the suspect was in possession of “more than 16 kg of drugs, a quantity sufficient to prepare around 32,500 individual doses of hashish”.

The detainee was present at the first judicial interrogation and was subject to the coercion measure of preventive detention, indicated the PJ.

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Azores Situation Report Wednesday 19th June 2024

Recorded increase in the number of hospitalizations of patients with Covid-19

Regional Health Director says there was a “slight increase” in the number of hospitalizations, especially in São Miguel

The number of hospitalizations of patients with Covid-19 has increased in recent months on the island of São Miguel.

“Reporting to an analysis of the last three, four months, there has been an increase in hospitalizations today, but it will be properly monitored, and subject to constant analysis and monitoring”, confirmed the regional director of Health, Pedro Paes.

“We are unable to determine the reason for this slight increase”, said the official, although it is true that this “is a time of festivities, a time of greater mobility of people, given summer tourism”.

Yesterday, at the Ribeira Grande Health Centre alone, 10 patients were hospitalized with Covid-19 (half of the total number of patients hospitalized with the disease in the Region), with one still at CUF and four at Casa de Saúde Nossa Senhora da Conceição, which plus another three at Hospital da Horta and two at Hospital da Ilha Terceira.

The regional director of Health explained that some of these admissions are from a population that already resides in the institution, such as Casa de Saúde de São Miguel. And, on the other hand, there is no data “on the increase in mortality or severity of the disease itself”.

“What we can guarantee is that professionals are working with all safety conditions, and hospitalized users have safety conditions, whether those hospitalized with active Covid-19 infection or other hospitalized users”, he highlighted the person responsible, explaining that safety is guaranteed through individual protection and transmission prevention measures.

The regional director of Health calls on the population to adopt individual protection measures, already known to everyone, so that Covid-19 disease infection can be contained, namely measures such as cleaning and disinfecting hands, taking care of roads airways, and if you are sick, avoid closed areas with crowds of people.

Glex Summit brings together 120 explorers in the “natural laboratory” of the Azores

The Glex Exploration Summit brings together around 120 international explorers and scientists on the island of Terceira, in the Azores, with the archipelago considered a “natural laboratory for the production of knowledge” and a possible location for an underwater research station.

“The Azores are a natural laboratory for the production of knowledge and science and this mix between science, makers and technology that allows one party to help the other is what Glex is”, stated Manuel Vaz, founder of Expanding World, which organizes the summit, in statements on the sidelines of the opening session of the Glex Summit, which runs until Wednesday in Angra do Heroísmo.

The fifth edition of the summit organized by Expanding World, curated by The Explorers Club, from New York, takes place for the third consecutive year in the Azores and for the second on the island of Terceira.

“We are in the most obvious place on planet Earth to be holding a summit where all areas feel at home, from the oceans to volcanology and space. This is the perfect place where the old world and the new world meet”, he highlighted.

In the 2023 edition, the first lunar simulation mission in Portugal was announced, which took seven “astronauts” from various countries to Gruta do Natal, on the island of Terceira, where they stayed for six nights and seven days.

According to the organizer, the opening of the meeting with a speech by aquanaut and ocean conservationist Fabien Cousteau, promoter of the Proteus project, which aims to create underwater research stations, is “a clear sign of future cooperation”.

“If there are space stations, why are there no stations underwater?”, he asked, arguing that “there are certainly conditions to implement the project in the Azores.

Asked on the sidelines of the event about the potential of the archipelago for the installation of a future underwater station, Fabien Cousteau simply said that “the Azores have the potential for many things”, but admitted that the North Atlantic is one of the locations in view in the Proteus project. .

“The Atlantic Ocean is of primary importance. The Proteus project is not for a single habitat. We started with the idea of ​​one, but the demand and interest is to have several ‘habitats’ strategically placed in different parts of the world, of course the North Atlantic being one of those places”, he added.

The aquanaut expects to install the first underwater scientific research station in Curaçao, in the Caribbean, at the end of 2026.

“We can take the laboratory to the bottom of the sea, instead of bringing samples to the surface. Thus, the samples are not corrupted, information can be generated immediately and all this to create innovations, new approaches, new ways of thinking and understanding what is happening in a place we know nothing about”, he highlighted.

Among this edition’s guest speakers are names such as entomologist Sammy Ramsey, biologist Martina Capriotti, volcanologist Jess Phoenix, conservationist Morad Tahbaz, cultural activist Ihor Poshyvailo and peace activist Aziz Abu Sarah.

Also participating are aerospace engineer Sabrina Thompson, polar researcher Kirstin Schulz, NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, and INESC-TEC researcher Ana Pires, who was commander of the Camões mission, in Gruta do Natal.

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 5th June 2024

Azores Civil Protection exercise will involve more than 400 participants in Terceira

The ‘TOURO24’ exercise, the largest organized annually by the Civil Protection of the Azores, which begins on Thursday on the island of Terceira, will mobilize more than 400 participants, including operatives, entities and extras, simulating “a seismo-volcaeic scenario”.

According to the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service (SRPCBA), during the exercise, which takes place between June 6th and 8th, “an increase in seismo-volcaeic activity will be simulated in the western part of the island, more specifically in the Santa Bárbara volcano, which will provoke manifestations of volcanism and the occurrence of earthquakes of high magnitude”.

Based on this scenario, the various civil protection agents will have to act in the face of the different events that will be triggered, testing their capacity to respond, coordinate and articulate.

Civil protection says that ‘TOURO24’ will last 72 hours, taking place in the LIVEX modality (‘Live Exercise’), that is, with the movement of resources on the ground, “it is estimated that it will mobilize more than 400 participants with direct and indirect intervention, including operators, entities and extras”.

The objective of the exercise, which takes place on the island of Terceira, is “to test the response capacity of the various civil protection agents in the face of a seismo-volcaeic scenario”.

The regional secretary for Environment and Climate Action, Alonso Miguel, who oversees Civil Protection and will monitor ‘TOURO24’ operations on the ground, highlights the carrying out of this exercise “as a way of strengthening the response of civil protection agents and ensure that the region is better prepared to face serious accidents or catastrophes”.

During the drill, calls for help will be made and, in different locations on the island, events such as “obstruction of access roads, movement of slopes, communications failures, search and rescue in collapsed structures, setting up of concentration zones and support for the population will be staged”, preventive evacuations”, among other incidents, details Civil Protection.

Around 30 entities participate in ‘TOURO24’, including civil protection agents (fire departments from all islands, security forces, Armed Forces, bodies of the National Maritime Authority, health professionals and the Portuguese Red Cross).

Municipal councils, government departments and entities with a duty to cooperate, technical and scientific research institutions, electricity and communications companies and media outlets also participate in the exercise.

This year, a group of evaluators made up of elements from the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority, the Lisbon Firefighters Regiment, the Regional Civil Protection Service of Madeira, the National Institute of Medical Emergency and the command of the emergency services will also be present.

Floods force the relocation of 20 families

Ribeira Grande firefighters were called to intervene in the parishes of Matriz da Ribeira Grande, Ribeirinha and Gramas due to flooding that forced 20 families to be relocated.

The bad weather experienced yesterday in Ribeira Grande caused several floods in the parishes of Matriz, Ribeirinha and Lugar das Gramas which, in addition to causing damage to vehicles and homes, forced the relocation of 20 families in the municipality. The president of the Ribeira Grande City Council said that this “phenomenon” was a “waterspout” that hit Ribeira Grande.

According to the mayor, the critical points affected were the city centre, “where the river overflowed and flooded some streets in the centre and also the Ribeirinha area”, as well as in the “Grams area”.

20 families in need of relocation,  have been identified and that the municipality’s social action teams, together with the Social Security Institute of the Azores, are finding “solutions” to overcome the situation. .

For its part, the Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service of the Azores recorded a total of 43 occurrences at the time of writing this edition, all in this municipality, and the situations reported “are related to flooding on roads and flooding in homes”, reads a statement sent to newsrooms.

With the first rocket about to take flight, the population of Malbusca asks for more information

The Atlantic Spaceport Consortium aims to launch the first rocket this summer, to test the concept. Residents say they know nothing and ask for more information and transparency

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 29th May 2024

Seven islands in the Azores under yellow warning due to sometimes heavy rain

The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) placed the islands in the Eastern and Central groups of the Azores under yellow warning, between this Tuesday and Wednesday, due to sometimes heavy rain.

According to the IPMA bulletin, on the islands of São Miguel and Santa Maria, which make up the Eastern group, the yellow warning for precipitation is valid between 10pm today and 12pm on Wednesday.

On the islands of Faial, Pico, São Jorge, Graciosa and Terceira, the yellow warning has been in force since 6am and will be valid until midnight today.

Wave of robberies scares residents of Lomba da Maia

Cars, homes and commercial establishments are no escape from robberies. President of the parish council shares concern and fears that residents will take justice into their own hands.

Cafes, fuel pumps, “everything commercial establishment in Lomba da Maia has already been robbed”, says the mayor.

Several homes have also been the target of robberies: “Elderly people are getting scared. The other day, they robbed the house of an elderly woman, who since she moved into the house 35 years ago, never closed the back door and that’s how they entered. People have been sleeping with the lights on.”

According to statements, the number of robberies is reaching around fifty. But there could be more, which is why the president of the parish council urges the population to file a complaint with the police authorities, collaborating with residents who have no way of getting to the nearest police station.
“We encourage people to make complaints. Those who don’t have a vehicle, we transport them in the council’s van to the Maia police station, the closest”.

Alberto Pacheco da Ponte says that the robberies are due to the drug addiction problem, which is getting worse in the parish, and that they generally occur in the early hours of the morning. “And it’s not just in Lomba da Maia: in neighbouring parishes there are also reports of robberies of the same type”, he adds.

The mayor says he has already taken several initiatives to combat the problem but admits that it is proving difficult to control the situation. “We have already made complaints to the PSP, which has been making rounds in the parish, almost every day, at different times”.

More than 100 packages of food seized in São Miguel

The Azores Territorial Command, through the Ponta Delgada Territorial Post, seized 112 packages of frozen food products on the island of São Miguel.

According to a statement, following an inspection action, within the scope of the goods in circulation regime, GNR personnel approached a vehicle that “was transporting various frozen food products destined for sale to the final consumer, without these being properly refrigerated”.

The action resulted in the identification of a 51-year-old man, and a misdemeanour report was drawn up for transporting, storing and selling “foodstuffs with a lack of requirements and without the rules for safeguarding cleanliness and hygiene having been complied with”.

This infraction is considered a “serious economic offense, punishable by a maximum fine of 3,000 euros, with the facts being informed to the Regional Inspection of Economic Activities”, says the GNR statement.

Still during the investigations carried out, on May 21st, and after the “hygienic and sanitary check by the municipal veterinarian of the municipality of Lagoa, it was certified that the food items were suitable for human consumption, and the goods were delivered to an institution of social solidarity”.