Extreme weather conditions caused by Storm Claudia have killed three people and injured dozens in Portugal, authorities said on Monday, while in Britain rescue teams have been organising evacuations due to major flooding in Wales and England, Reuters reported.
Weather conditions in Portugal and parts of neighbouring Spain have been extreme for days due to Storm Claudia, which reached areas in Britain and Ireland on Monday.
Rescue teams found the bodies of an elderly couple in their flooded house in the Portuguese town of Fernão Ferro on Thursday. It is believed that the dead were unable to evacuate as the water rose overnight.
A tornado hit the southern Portuguese town of Albufeira on Thursday, emergency services said. Footage posted online showed the tornado damaging and destroying caravans at a campsite, where regional civil protection chief Vitor Vaz Pinto said an 85-year-old British woman had died. Twenty-eight people were also injured at a nearby hotel and were in hospital with serious injuries, he added. In a statement today, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed his "solidarity with the family of the victim who died" in Albufeira and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
The Portuguese meteorological service has declared the entire southernmost part of Portugal, the Algarve, and the regions of Beja and Setubal, the penultimate level of alert - "code amber".
In the UK, severe flooding hit the town of Monmouth and surrounding areas in south-east Wales today. South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said it was carrying out rescue operations, evacuations and welfare checks.
“Storm Claudia caused significant flooding across parts of Wales overnight, with homes, businesses, transport and energy infrastructure still affected,“ a Welsh Government spokesman said. Aerial images showed widespread flooding in Monmouth, with water inundating the town centre and residential areas after a nearby river burst its banks overnight.
“Natural Resources Wales“ has issued 28 flood warnings of varying severity degree.
In England, according to the latest update from the Environment Agency, there are a total of 183 flood warnings, 49 of which are active.
/НС/
Source: www.bta.bg