The Santarém District Civil Protection Commission today activated the Special Emergency Plan for Floods in the Tagus Basin at its Blue Alert level due to rising waters, following a meeting to assess current flows.
“The flows of the Tagus exceeded 1,500 cubic meters per second (m3/s) at Almourol (Vila Nova da Barquinha) and we had to activate the [Special Emergency Plan for Floods in the Tagus Basin] much more out of prevention and precaution,” David Lobato, sub-regional commander of Emergency and Civil Protection for the Middle Tagus, told Lusa today.
The decision was taken at 8 p.m., after the forecast values reached the limit for activation of the Special Emergency Plan for Floods in the Tagus Basin (1,500 m3/s), and the official said that the three dams (Castelo do Bode, Fratel and Pracana) “together were discharging 2,600 m3/s at 8 p.m.”, causing flooding in some riverside areas and leading to the rescue of three shepherds on the banks of the Tagus, in the Alvega area (Abrantes).
Civil Protection points to the “precipitation that has been felt in Portugal”, and the “discharges from the dams and tributaries of the Tagus river basin” as the factors that have generated a “considerable increase in the hydrometric levels and flows of the Tagus river and its tributaries”.
The head of the Civil Protection Sub-regional Command said that the Blue Alert is the lowest on a scale of four, adding that, for the next few hours, “an increase in flows from the dams is expected, which will potentially contribute to an increase in the levels recorded in the River Tagus”.
In this sense, civil protection advises the population and municipal civil protection services, as well as asking the media to “continue to alert the population to self-protection measures in the event of floods”.
Civil Protection is asking the population to remove agricultural and industrial equipment, vehicles and other goods from the areas bordering the normally flooded watercourses, move animals to safe places, not to cross flooded roads or areas with vehicles or on foot, and to take the necessary measures to protect themselves, their families and their property.
According to information from the Lezíria do Tejo and Médio Tejo Sub-Regional Commands, which are monitoring the situation, there are constraints tonight in the municipality of Constância, with part of the parking lot next to the River Zêzere submerged, in the municipality of Barquinha, with the Almourol parking lot submerged, and in the municipality of Torres Novas, with the Estrada das Cordas submerged.
