Five people are now reported to have died as Storm Kristin brought driving rain accompanied by high winds to Portugal overnight.
The various deaths have not all been fully explained. One man died as a tree fell on top of the car he was driving in Vila Franca da Xira. Another person died as a result of a falling metallic structure in Leiria – and since then three other fatalities have been confirmed by authorities.
As day broke, news was of over 1,500 incidents between midnight and 6am – many of them involving falling trees and other structures blown over by the exceptionally strong winds. This number rose by another 1,500-plus incidents over the course of the morning as authorities become aware of further damages.
Schools in certain areas are closed for the day, power failed in Guarda, Coimbra, Castelo Branco, Portalegre, Leiria, Santarém, Abrantes, Peniche and Setúbal where as many as 855,000 homes were without electricity early morning.
Civil Protection warnings have advised the people of Leiria particularly to “stay home”. PSP advice has since added Coimbra to the ‘stay home’ entreaty.
This advice may end up covering a lot of other people who were trying to get to work this morning. In Lisbon, commuters who take the ferry into Cais de Sodré from the opposite bank of the Tejo river found the service suspended, while a tree has fallen across the Setúbal-Lisbon line, meaning the only way into the capital was by roads that became increasingly chaotic.
The Tejo itself is “absolutely full”, say locals, which may lead to other incidents as the day continues.
In Seixal, roads are already closed due to flooding.
In Figueira da Foz (where the stricken cargo ship is hoping today for ‘rescue’ from a Norwegian tugboat), the strength of the wind has caused part of the city’s iconic ferris wheel to collapse. Several cars were also damaged when the wind ripped part of the roof off a building.
With reports of road closures in various places, localised flooding and the danger of further floods as soils everywhere are ‘absolutely sodden’, the forecast for the coming hours is for more rain, albeit the strength of the wind will gradually reduce.
IPMA has warned that the impact of this storm ‘could be catastrophic’ due to the strength of winds that will have been gusting at points at as much as 180 km/h.
Rail services are already interrupted along many lines throughout the country.
Weather warnings are set to continue even after Kristin moves on, well into the first few days of February. Conditions today however are expected to start improving through the morning.
