Portugal has barely dried off from one Atlantic storm and is already shutting schools for the next. Storm Charles, following hard on the heels of Storm Bruna, was due to reach Madeira on Tuesday night before sweeping across the mainland on Wednesday, prompting the government to declare a civil protection alert and urge people to stay indoors.
Madeira takes the first blow. The island’s mountains and south coast were placed under a red rain warning, the top of the scale, from 9pm Tuesday until 6am Wednesday, with the IPMA weather service saying some spots could collect over 100 litres per square metre within half a day. Gusts of up to 140km/h were forecast on high ground after midnight, and the regional government closed schools until Wednesday lunchtime. Bruna alone had generated around 210 emergency call-outs on the island on Sunday, from fallen trees to landslides.
For Wednesday, the highest wind alert applies to eight districts: Lisbon, Setúbal, Faro, Beja, Évora, Leiria, Portalegre and Santarém, while every other district is on orange. Along the Atlantic and Algarve coastlines, forecasters expected seas as high as seven metres.
Luís Neves, the minister in charge of civil protection, told a briefing that the country would be “put to the test” and asked everyone who could to remain at home. Classrooms and public offices that are not essential will stay shut, employers were asked to allow remote work, and parents who have to look after children will be excused from work without losing pay.
Officials advised residents to bring in balcony furniture, clear gutters and drains, keep cars out of underground garages and away from trees, and stay clear of rivers, beaches and seafronts. Lisbon’s firefighters had already handled about 130 weather-related calls overnight into Tuesday, mostly flooded homes and streets, and the city said it would close its road tunnels as Charles approached.
