LISBON — Portugal braced for another bout of heavy rain and gale-force winds as nearly 200,000 homes and businesses remained without electricity days after Storm Kristin swept the country, killing five people, officials said.
The national weather agency, IPMA, placed all of mainland Portugal on alert through Monday for persistent downpours accompanied by gusts up to 100 km/h. With rivers already swollen and soils saturated, authorities warned that the new system could bring flash flooding in urban areas, as well as landslides and rockfalls in hilly terrain.
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Portugal’s civil protection service urged residents to secure loose objects, steer clear of vulnerable coastal and riverside areas, and take extra care on the roads as rain and wind intensify. Emergency teams cautioned that fast-changing conditions could make low-lying streets and underpasses hazardous and cut off by sudden surges of water.
In the storm’s wake, emergency services reported 34 land rescues and 17 water rescues. The tally underscored the strain on first responders as they navigated blocked routes, standing water and ongoing utility failures while new weather warnings took effect.
Power company E-Redes said 198,000 customers were still without power as of Saturday afternoon, most of them in the Leiria district of central Portugal. Crews continued working to restore service where access allowed, but officials cautioned that saturated ground and high winds could bring additional outages as branches and debris threaten power lines.
Local authorities in Leiria reported a 73-year-old man died Saturday after falling from a roof while replacing tiles in the town of Batalha, near Leiria. The incident came as residents across the region raced to shore up storm damage before the next round of rain.
Leiria Mayor Goncalo Lopes appealed for volunteers to help repair damaged roofs and secure structures ahead of the forecast deterioration on Sunday. The call reflected heightened concern that temporary fixes made after Kristin could unravel in the coming hours under renewed stress from wind and rain.
Officials warned that ground already waterlogged by earlier downpours increases the likelihood of slope failures and rockfalls, particularly near road cuts and embankments. Motorists were advised to avoid unnecessary travel, slow down in heavy rain and watch for standing water, debris and reduced visibility.
Coastal communities and areas along rivers were urged to remain vigilant as tides and runoff interact with the incoming weather. Authorities said people should keep away from seawalls and riverbanks, secure outdoor items that could become projectiles and ensure drains and gutters are clear where possible.
While some power and transport disruptions eased since Kristin’s peak, the broad weather alert and lingering outages underlined a fragile recovery. With soils saturated and infrastructure repairs ongoing, the margin for error is narrowing, emergency managers said, as Portugal faces another round of severe weather to start the week.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
