Bad weather particularly hammers western Algarve
Five people (two couples and a child) have had to be rehoused after the bad weather battering Portugal in recent weeks caused a landslide in Silves’ historic centre, which dislodged the façade of an ‘old semi-detached house next to the city walls’, leaving the interior of the house visible and open to the elements.
Photographs of the living room, still in place with table and chairs, indicate the vulnerability of the property which has been left with large fissures, cracks and holes in the roof.
André Gonçalves of Silver Fire Brigade told reporters that two adjoining houses were also affected by the incident, and may also require shoring up works.
Municipal services are currently ‘assessing’ the situation, which may require further people to be relocated for their own safety.
This was just one of the multiple incidents caused by the effects of ‘depression Jana’ which has brought wind, rain, hail, snow and a lot of maritime ‘agitation’ over the past few days.
The western end of the Algarve has been especially hit by rain, which has caused rivers and streams to burst their banks, filled up reservoirs that have been crying out for water and replenishing aquifers.
In certain areas, like Boca do Rio in Vila do Bispo, the sheer volume of rain rushing towards the sea via watercourses caused dunes to give way, seeing a stream that had not flowed into the ocean for years finally do so.
Aljezur, too, has seen so much water racing down from the hills and towards the sea that multiple footpaths have been transformed into rivers. Some roads have had to be closed, but there have been no reports of any major damages.
As SIC remarks, all this is actually “a good indicator for the region, which so desperately needs to recharge its dams: this weekend alone, the Costa Vicentina will have managed to hold over 60 litres of water per square metre”.
More rain is expected this week, with general blustery weather. But the true ‘plus’ is that this enormous quantity of rainfall appears to have prompted the government to announce the construction of 14 further dams (see story to come).
A dam had been advocated years ago for Aljezur. Had it been in place, so much of the water that has been lost into the sea after churning through fields in torrents, would have been saved for human/ agricultural consumption in drier times.
