Orange alert from authorities effective from 9 pm. In Funchal, Bruno Pereira, mayor with the Civil Protection area, reveals “tranquility” for a population that is quite “resilient” and that must “stay at home and only leave in case of extreme need”.
The south coast and the mountainous region of Madeira are from 9 pm on orange warning due to the forecast of heavy rain and thunderstorms. On the south coast, the IPMA warns of periods of rain, “sometimes heavy, persistent and accompanied by thunderstorm”, between 9:00 pm and 6:00 am on Monday.
Bruno Pereira, councilor responsible for Civil Protection in Funchal, revealed to RJM that everything is prepared to guarantee safety and help to Funchal residents. “The infrastructure and population of Funchal have already shown, in other situations, to be resilient” when these phenomena happen. Above all, it continues “common sense, given the meteorological situation that we are going to experience” this morning and tomorrow from the afternoon.
Funchal City Council, Funchal’s Firefighters Sapadores and Madeira’s Voluntary Firefighters have “devices that are prepared and can still quickly increase their number of elements in the field”. With all “calm and tranquility, the population should stay at home, only leave in case of extreme need and keep monitoring the evolution of the situation”.
When asked whether he can guarantee the safety of the flow of water lines in the streams that cross Funchal, Bruno Pereira points out that whoever “works in Civil Protection” knows that “there are no zero risk situations. This absolute security can never be guaranteed” which he refers to in relation to the Funchal rivers. However, the CMF councilor guarantees that there is no doubt that all the interventions that were carried out after February 20, in Funchal’s main water lines and in the lower canalization area and the construction of dams at a higher level, that the water lines have conditions of much less risk” for the city and population.
For Bruno Pereira, the biggest risk is in the smaller streams and which are generally not the target of maintenance, making it clear that the Municipality has intervened in several places, such as gutters and streams that were not the target of cleaning in the lower areas of the city and that they are old water lines towards the sea.
Câmara de Lobos are also on high alert and ready for any situations that might need attention.