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IMPA warns for wind gusts exceeding 118 km / h and waves with a maximum height of 12 meters. Partly sunny, with a few clouds

Hurricane Leslie has moved north of Madeira and is preparing to reach the Portuguese coast, the most expected scenario being that it lands on the ground in the Lisbon district in the early hours of the morning, according to the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere (IMPA).

The latest forecasts show a very high probability of Hurricane Leslie reaching the west coast of mainland Portugal as a post-tropical depression, with hurricane force winds (above 118 km / h) likely to be 5 to 20% between Cabo Mondego and Cabo de Sines, according to the latest IPMA notice

At this moment the most likely scenario is that Leslie will land on the ground in the Lisbon district” in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to the same source. But the hurricane is expected to begin to affect the mainland from 19.00 or 22.00 on Saturday. “Predictions indicate the average wind gust from 40 to 65 km / h with maximum wind gusts up to 120 km /h between 19.00 hrs on Saturday and 07.00 hrs on Sunday, especially on the west coast and the uplands. More than 80% of the average wind speed with tropical storm force (between 63 and 118 km / h) is expected to occour on the coast between Cabo Mondego and Cabo de Sines, “according to IPMA.

The waves are expected to reach 5 to 7 meters, with a maximum height of up to 12 meters in the period between Saturday 23.00 and 04.00 hrs on Sunday. The effect of strong sea turmoil should be amplified by the force of the winds near the center of Leslie, due to the decrease in pressure and the high tide (which occurs around 1800 hrs local time), which may lead to coastal gullies. Precipitation is also foreseen at times between 22.00 hrs Saturday and 10.00 hrs on Sunday, “he concluded.

In total there are 13 districts in mainland Portugal in orange warning (besides two others in Madeira) – the second most serious in a scale of four – and five in yellow warning.

The Portuguese Society of Internal Medicine (SPMI) and the Portuguese Association of General and Family Medicine (APMGF) will meet on 13 October in Lisbon to warn of “chaos in emergency services when winter begins.”

SPMI and APMGF said they were worried about the arrival of winter, arguing that “the Portuguese’s appeal to hospital emergencies is twice the average of the OECD countries” – Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

“In recent years, there has been a tendency to resort to the hospital emergency service, to the detriment of the demand for primary health care. This increasing demand makes hospital emergencies always working within the limits of efficiency and leads to the occurrence of multiple waiting hours in the service, “said João Araújo Correia, president of SPMI.

According to the specialist, this situation “far exceeds the recommendations of the Manchester Triage, compromising the safety of patients and professionals.”

“It was good that there was the political courage to publicize a compulsory circuit for the non-emergent acute patient, which would indicate the need for the primary resource to the Health Centre, being guaranteed, easy access in extended hours,” he says.

It also considers that “significant changes are also necessary in the financing of Hospitals and Health Centres, giving different incentives to the treatment of the acute patient, according to the natural mission of each one.”

The two entities hope that this joint meeting will produce a consensual document, to be released publicly, and sent to the Ministry of Health, the Directorate General of Health and the Regional Health Administrations.

SPMI considers that the increase in the relationship between Internal Medicine and General and Family Medicine “is a fundamental condition for real improvements in the efficiency of the National Health Service”.

 

The Fire that broke out on 6^th October in the Sintra-Cascais National Park burned around 600 hectares of land mainly located in the municipality of Cascais.

Twenty one persons were slightly injured in the fires. About three hundred people were evacuated at night from the Guincho campsite, as well as 47 inhabitants of several villages in the region.

According to a report in the Publico the Government has been alerted at least since last May to the high risk of fire in the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park: a report prepared by experts from the European Commission who visited Portugal to this effect accounts for the extreme vulnerability of this protected area.

According to Publico, the report indicated that “The structural risk index is very high and extreme.” The report, signed by three experts who came from Spain and worked with national experts, including the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF).

“The authors of the study consider it vital that the resident population and visitors to Sintra be alerted to the risk they are facing, because apparently the current prevention measures are not adequate to the dangerous situation. They suggest the creation of tourist safety areas and self-protection plans for construction and urbanization, but also the need to eliminate the large amount of dead fuel (vegetation) in most forest areas”.

The celebration of rituals or macumbas is also a matter of concern to the experts, as they involve the use of candles at the intersections of forest paths. As well as the lack of resources of the ICNF to manage the lands in its custody.

In view of these findings, the head of the rural fire mission structure recommended to the Secretary of State for Forests early in May various measures, such as the creation of escape routes and support for people who need to burn. “The possibility of large forest fires is already evident in 2018,” he anticipated.

 

The fire that began last night (6^th October) in Sintra and then progressed towards Cascais is the third in that area in a few days.

The Judicial Police are investigating the fire, reported the Expresso and a local information site, Cascais 24 . The fire has since been extinguished

According to Cascais 24, this was the third fire that, within a few days, broke out in the Natural Park of Sintra-Cascais.

José Palha Gomes, the commander of the Alcabideche Fire Brigade, who coordinated the operations, was cautious about the origin of the fire: “It is a matter for the authorities to investigate.”

Basílio Horta, mayor of Sintra, said, according to the Expresso , that “it is very strange that the fire started at 10.30.” Very strong winds carried the flames to the coastal zone of the Natural Park located in the municipality of Cascais.

A total of 347 people were evacuated, 300 of them from a campsite in Guincho (municipality of Cascais) and 47 from housing. The fight against the flames involved almost 800 operatives and seven aerial means. There were 18 light casualties, 17 of which were firefighters

“Never turn back the sea, watch children constantly” and “pay special attention to rip tides.” These are some of the advice of the National Maritime Authority for the trips to the beach with the official date of the end of the bathing season.

The bathing season has already ended on most Portuguese beaches. As many beaches no longer have the permanent assistance of lifeguards, coupled with the lack of signage and equipment to assist swimmers, it is therefore fundamental that people care in terms of safety, “said the Maritime Authority.

Respecting an interval of three hours after a normal meal before swimming, not turning your back on the sea and paying attention rip tides are also advice that was given.

As for the rip tides, “they can be fatal and cause death by drowning. You should not panic or try to beat the current by trying to swim against it.

If you enter a rip tide, you should summon help and swim sideways (parallel) to the coast line until you no longer feel the effect of the current. Then try and swim towards the shore. “he concludes.

 

The Aliens and Borders Service (SEF) has complied with a search warrant for the home of a lawyer in the Lisbon area, who is suspected of being exclusively involved in making unfounded applications for asylum, with large financial rewards from foreign citizens, who had been refused entrance into national territory. The investigation of the SEF, denominated “Operation Lingala”, lasted more than a year.

The lawyer was constituted defendant and was notified to appear in court. There are also strong indications of her involvement in a cell in Dakar, Senegal, which allegedly indicated the suspicion that foreign nationals came to Portugal and could subsequently initiate asylum applications.

After the detention of the foreign citizens in the Equipped Space to the Temporary Installation Center (EECIT) at the Lisbon Airport, to which the entry was refused, the lawyer immediately arrived where she requested the consultation of the respective processes, as well as the contact with the passengers (mostly nationals of African countries whose flights originated in Dakar, Luanda and Casablanca) without being asked to attend.

Then, in order to prevent them from being removed to their country of origin, the lawyer submitted an asylum application on behalf of the foreign citizen, as well as a power of attorney appointing her as an agent.

This abuse of the international protection mechanism through asylum applications, which were mostly unfounded, had the sole purpose of preventing intercepted passengers from returning to their country of origin, a move which gave the suspicion a high financial contribution.

During the searches made to her apartment, which also functioned as an office, computer and communication equipment used by the suspects, schedules, notebooks with indication of amounts collected, as well as proof of transfers / receipts of monetary amounts via financial agencies or banks were seized.

The Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) detected eight false or falsified documents at the Lisbon airport on 24 Septemberl, six of which were identified at the border of the Schengen Area and two at the exit.

Early in the morning, one of the first flights landing in Lisbon and coming from São Tomé, with stopover in Accra, detected two male passengers with fraudulent documentation. One of them presented a counterfeit Mauritius passport and the other a passport from the Republic of Korea where the original biographical page was replaced by a fake page. The latter document also contained false border stamps.

On another flight from Rio de Janeiro, a passenger was identified who used a French passport. It was a young woman whose final destination was Italy.

Already at mid-morning, on the arrival of the flight from Caracas, three more passengers, all men, with falsified documents. They presented the border authorities with passports from Germany, Norway and France, all of them with similar frauds: replacing a genuine biographical page with a false one.

During that day, two foreign nationals were also detained, when they presented to the SEF, at the exit border, Brazilian passports containing false border stamps, with which they intended to travel to Brasilia.

The airline’s official statement said: “With a great regret, we must inform you that Primera Air will cease all operations on the midnight of October 1st, 2018 and enter administration process, after 14 years of operations

Primera Air operates it services from Madeira, Lisbon, Faro and Ponta Delgada in Portugal as well as from various points in the United Kingdom.

For UK passengers the Primera website stated that it is not covered by the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s ATOL Protection scheme which only covers passengers booked on a package holiday.

The annoucement states:

9/30/2018 9:00:00 PM

 

On its website it states “Passengers wishing to obtain a refund for unused tickets will need to contact the company directly. Passengers who booked directly with the company via either a credit, charge or debit card may alternatively be able to make a claim against their card provider. Some card providers will ask for a negative response letter confirming the position* Passengers may also be able to make a claim against their travel insurer. (*This letter will be published shortly)

Passengers who have flown

Passengers who have travelled will need to make their own arrangements to return home. They should contact their travel insurer or travel agent for assistance.

 

The GNR announced on Monday 1st October the arrest of 10 people, aged between 22 and 49 years, on suspicion of drug trafficking and possession of prohibited weapons, in Seia, Guarda district.

In a statement, the Territorial Command of the GNR of the Guard said that the suspects were detained on Sunday by members of the Gouveia Territorial Detachment following two inquiries that had taken place for about six months.

Following the investigation, the military carried out 20 search warrants, conducting eleven home searches and nine non-domiciliary searches in various locations in the municipality of Seia.

During the operation, the GNR seized seven vehicles, 19 cannabis plants, five hashish and three doses of cocaine, two methadone vials, 25 mobile phones, two airguns, one air pressure gun, one alarm gun, three guns, a tablet, a computer, two precision scales, and 342 pieces of allegedly counterfeit clothing and footwear.

The detainees, six men and four women, with a criminal record for drug trafficking offenses and possession of a prohibited weapon, appeared before the Seia Judicial Court on Tuesday for first judicial interrogation.

 

 

N.º AP/42/DCS/2018 DATA 2018-10-01 HORA 14H30

NOTICE TO THE POPULATION

NATIONAL AUTHORITY OF CIVIL PROTECTION

Increased Rural Fire Hazard

1. SITUATION

Meteorological situation:

Following the meteorological information provided by the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA), for the next 48 hours, the weather conditions are forecast of the continuation of dry and hot weather, with intensification of the east quadrant of wind, relatively low relative humidity throughout the territory and with a significant increase in the risk of fire.

2. EXPECTED EFFECTS

In addition to increasing weather severity, there is also considerable presence of forest fuel, resulting in conditions favourable to the occurrence and rapid spread of rural fires. As such it is necessary to ensure the preventive measures described below.

3. PREVENTIVE MEASURES

The ANPC reminds people that, according to the legal provisions in force and due to the prolongation of the critical period up to 15 October, it is not allowed:

• Carrying out burnings and lighting bonfires for recreation, leisure or cooking;
• Using burning and combustion equipment intended for lighting or cooking;
• Burning cut scrub and other waste piles, as well as any other kind of farm surplus;
• Releasing balloons with a lit fuse or any other type of rockets/fireworks;
• Smoking, lighting fires or using naked flames of any kind in the forest spaces and paths/roads that surround them;
• Fumigating and pest control in apiaries with devices that are not fitted with spark-retention devices.

The ANPC also reminds people of some special precautions to take, in view of the predicted meteorological conditions, in carrying out agricultural and forestry work, namely:

• Keep machines and equipment clean of oils and dust;
• Fill machines in cold and in a place with little vegetation;
• Be careful to avoid sparks during handling of equipment, avoiding using them during hot periods.

Against this background, ANPC has elevated the Special Alert Status (EAE) of the Integrated Protection and Relief Operations System (SIOPS) to the ORANGE- level Special Fire-fighting Device (SIR) for the districts of Beja, Évora, Faro, Lisbon and Setúbal; and the RED LEVEL  SIOPS Special Alert State (EAE), for the districts of Aveiro, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Guarda, Leiria, Porto, Portalegre, Santarém, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real and Viseu (from 011800OUT18 to 032359OUT18).

The ANPC also recommends the need for everyone to adapt their behaviour and activities in view of the danger of rural fires, in particular by adopting the necessary precautionary measures, taking into account the existing prohibitions and paying particular attention to the evolution of the fire hazard to the next few days, available at the websites of the ANPC and the IPMA, with the Forestry Technical Offices of the City Councils and Fire Departments.

 

Communication and Awareness Division

Jorge Dias | 965 160 096

Alcina Coutinho | 919 201 307