Strong winds, heavy rains lash Portugal leaving one dead
Pastor Dale Morgan
Strong winds, heavy rains lash Portugal leaving one dead*
LISBON, Oct 25 (AFP) Oct 25, 2006
Heavy rain and wind lashed Portugal Wednesday, knocking down trees,
triggering landslides and causing localized flooding that disrupted road
and rail travel and left one woman dead, officials said.
The central city of Pombal, located some 170 kilometres (105 miles)
northeast of Lisbon, was especially hard-hit with most of the historic
city centre under water, local officials said.
"Part of the city is without electricity, sidewalks were ruined,
basements flooded and supermarkets damaged," Pombal mayor Narciso Mota
told private television SIC.
A woman in her 80s, who suffered from heart trouble, was found dead in
her flooded house in Pombal where she lived alone, he said.
In the nearby farming town of Soure a river burst its banks and swept a
school bus carrying around 50 children into a ditch, emergency services
workers said. No one was injured but the driver received counseling.
The national civil protection service said it responded to nearly 700
incidents of flooding, 335 fallen trees and 19 landslides across the
country since late Tuesday when the storm hit.
Dozens of roads were reported closed, mostly in central and northern
areas, due to flooding and debris.
Rail service was suspended in the southernmost province of Algarve, as
well as between Lisbon and second-city Oporto in the north, for several
hours because of fallen trees or flooding on the track, railway
officials said.