Dozens of Madeira residents were evacuated from their homes for fear of new mudslides on Monday as Portugal decreed three days of mourning for the 42 people killed in weekend flash floods.
Rescuers were braced to find more bodies in flooded car parks and mud-filled homes two days after killer mudslides ripped through the picturesque Atlantic tourist island, gutting buildings and overturning cars.
Buildings were still threatening to cave in, in the region surrounding the main city of Funchal where a four-lane highway was partly destroyed.
In Ribeira Brava, 20km west of Funchal, authorities ordered 30 to 40 people from their homes for fear a nearby hillside could collapse, the local mayor told TSF radio.
A local highway was also closed to traffic because of the risks, a regional government spokesperson told a press conference.
Several people were also evacuated from a high-risk zone in Ponta do Sol a bit further west, according to the Diario de Noticias-Funchal news website.
The Portuguese Cabinet decreed three days of national mourning starting on Monday as it announced that it would apply for EU solidarity funds to help the island recover, a government statement said.
A Portuguese warship carrying helicopters and loaded with medical and relief supplies arrived off Madeira Monday, and was to anchor near Ribeira Brava, the civil protection agency website said.
Several hundred earthmovers and trucks have been requisitioned to shift tonnes of mud and rubble and rescuers were struggling on Monday to pump water from underground carparks where witnesses say panicked drivers sought refuge.
The mayor of Funchal, Miguel Alburquerque, has warned it was “very probable” the toll will rise from the current 42 dead and 120 injured.
“Our main concern is for the damaged and flooded homes, the cars buried and swept away by water, where we fear we will find new bodies,” he told the Jornal de Madeira newspaper. — AFP