Safe Communities Portugal Safety and Security Report Thursday 31st October 2024
Good afternoon everyone. We start with the tragic news of the loss of almost one hundred lives in Spain due to the catastrophic flash floods that have killed at least 95 people. This was caused by a destructive weather system in which cold and warm air meet and produce powerful rain clouds, a pattern believed to be growing more frequent due to climate change.
The phenomenon is known locally as DANA, a Spanish acronym for high-altitude isolated depression, and unlike common storms or squalls it can form independently of polar or subtropical jet streams. When cold air blows over warm Mediterranean waters it causes hotter air to rise quickly and form dense, water-laden clouds that can remain over the same area for many hours, raising their destructive potential. The event sometimes provokes large hail storms and tornadoes as seen this week, meteorologists say.
Eastern and Southern Spain are particularly susceptible to the phenomenon due to its position between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Warm, humid air masses and cold fronts meet in a region where mountains favour the formation of storm clouds and rainfall. This week’s DANA was one of the three most intense such storms in the last century in the Valencia region, Ruben del Campo, spokesperson for the national weather agency Aemet, said.
“Forecasts were in line with what happened. But in an area between Utiel and Chiva, in the province of Valencia, rainfall exceeded 300 millimetres. In that area, storm systems formed and regenerated continuously,” he explained.
DANA has now moved its centre and it’s over the mainland Portugal and we will continue to receive its influence hence the yellow warnings for rain. But here the situation is forecasted to be very different. Because the CAPE (potential energy for thunderstorms) is much lower, it can be 2 to 3 times lower, and even lower at times! This leads to situations, which do not have the violence that we have been seeing in Spain, especially in the Valencia area.
Unfortunately it does not appear to be over. Heavy rains again severely affect the province of Valencia. Red warnings have already been issued due to heavy rainfall that will remain extremely intense until tomorrow. Between 200/350 millimetres of rain may be recorded in the next 36 hours. We would advise not to travel to Valencia unless you really need to do so – in which case take extra care. If you are in or about to travel to Spain carefully check the weather and in particular the weather warnings that may be in place.
The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) will hold on November 5th, at 11:05 am, the 12th edition of the Public Awareness Exercise for Seismic Risk – A TERRA TREME (www.aterratreme.pt). It is important that as many people as possible participate, as it helps create greater awareness on the action to take during an earthquake, which can occur without warning at any time in any place. Knowing instinctively the correction action to take can reduce casualties.
A little piece of good news. The strike by ticket inspectors and workers at CP — Comboios de Portugal, which was running until November 3, has been suspended after the company reached an agreement with the union, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing announced. CP — Comboio de Portugal reached an agreement with the Commercial Itinerant Review Railway Union (SFRCI) after “a negotiation period that allowed a consensus to be reached”, the ministry overseen by Miguel Pinto Luz announced today, in a statement sent to the Lusa news agency.
With that our team at Safe Communities wish you all a safe week ahead.
News:
A Terra Treme Exercise – Preparation Action for Seismic risk
The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) will hold on November 5th, at 11:05 am, the 12th edition of the Public Awareness Exercise for Seismic Risk – A TERRA TREME (www.aterratreme.pt).
This is a national exercise promoted annually by ANEPC, in collaboration with various public and private entities, which aims to enable the population to know how to act in the event of an earthquake. Knowing what to do before, during and after an earthquake, in particular knowing the preventive measures and self-protection behaviours to be adopted, is the purpose of this journey that we propose to all citizens.
The exercise involves carrying out 3 simple gestures that can make a difference for those who practice them in the event of an earthquake. The action takes place for one (1) minute, in which participants, individually or collectively (families, schools, companies, public, private or associative institutions), are invited to perform the 3 self-protection gestures: Download, Protect and Wait.
The initiative has had significant support from the school population, also thanks to the involvement of the Directorate-General for Education (DGE) and the Directorate-General for School Establishments (DGEsTE). Together with these partners, ANEPC, with the support of Silves City Hall, promotes a main exercise event at Escola Básica Dr. Garcia Domingues, in Silves, located at Praceta, Largo Gil Eanes 1, 8300-118 Silves.
At the end of this action, a LIVEX Exercise (Live Exercise) will take place, with the movement of real resources on the ground, as a sectoral test of the Special Civil Protection Emergency Plan for Seismic Risk and Tsunamis in the Algarve, in the Search and Rescue Intervention area. Rescue, with 7 different scenarios – PROCIVALG_24.2, in the municipalities of Portimão and Silves, in the Barlavento Algarvio.
In Praia da Rocha, in partnership with the Municipal Civil Protection Service of Portimão, the sirens of the pilot project of the population warning system, installed in that bathing area, will be activated, with subsequent evacuation of people and animals from the identified risk areas, through signposted routes to meeting points, carrying out emergency procedures following a tsunami warning.
Throughout successive editions, the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority has sought to expand reflection and debate around the topic of seismic risk and knowledge about what to do before, during and after an earthquake for all sectors of society civil, notably within the scope of the inclusion of people with disabilities, in order to achieve greater individual and collective resilience among the population.
In this sense, and under the United Nations motto “No One Left Behind”, ANEPC will promote, in partnership with the Municipal Civil Protection Service of Nazaré, at CERCINA – Education, Rehabilitation, Training and Inclusion Cooperative of Nazaré, at the minute pre-defined for the Exercise, the 3 protective gestures in the event of an earthquake, as well as the evacuation of users to a Population Concentration and Support Zone, set up at the Nazaré Sports Gym, Municipal Sports Complex, Areal. With this initiative, it is expected to be able to learn lessons in order to prepare both civil protection agents and residential social responses for existing risks and specific action in an emergency context with a population that presents vulnerabilities.
Across the country, the Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Commands (CREPC) and the ANEPC Sub-regional Emergency and Civil Protection Commands will promote, in partnership with local educational communities, Fire Departments, Municipal Civil Protection Services and the other civil protection agents, awareness actions on the topic of seismic risk and self-protection measures to combat it, as well as carrying out the exercise A TERRA TREME.
ANEPC invites citizens to participate and register at www.aterratreme.pt, reinforcing its commitment to safety and preparedness for seismic risk. This edition of A TERRA TREME coincides with World Tsunami Risk Awareness Day, highlighting the importance of an informed and resilient society in the face of natural disasters.
All information at www.aterratreme.pt