Fire fighters try to open a drain along a flooded street following heavy rains in Lisbon on December 13, 2022. (Photo by FILIPE AMORIM / AFP)
LISBON: Heavy rain battered parts of the Iberian peninsula on Tuesday, flooding streets, sweeping away cars and forcing authorities in Portugal's capital Lisbon to suspend bus and tram services and close some main roads.
The Lisbon mayor's office put the city on a "red" weather warning at around 6.30 a.m. (0630 GMT) and urged people to stay home and avoid commuting to the capital in the estuary of the Tagus River.
Since midnight, emergency services have reported more than 500 incidents across Portugal, mainly in Lisbon and the central district of Portalegre, including flooded streets, tunnels and train stations. Some shops and restaurants were semi-submerged.
Schools in the municipality of Oeiras, part of the Lisbon district, have shut and students were sent home.
The emergency plan for the Tagus River has been activated, meaning there is a risk it could overflow.
Civil Protection Commander Andre Fernandes told a news conference it "would not be easy" to return the situation to normal as the rainfall was likely to intensify from 1 p.m. onwards.
The mayor's office said city buses and trams were not operating, the metro was not fully functioning and a number of train stations were inaccessible due to flooding.
Adverse weather conditions also brought Lisbon's metropolitan area to a standstill last Wednesday, when one person died in a flooded basement.
Heavy rain hit other parts of the country on Tuesday, with weather agency IPMA declaring a red alert in the central district of Portalegre, where many homes are flooded.
Neighbouring Spain has also been hit, with the central-western region of Extremadura put on the second highest level of emergency. Heavy rain caused a road to collapse and a group of ten people had to be rescued.
"Today is a day to stay at home, work from home, a little bit like we did during the pandemic," Portugal's IPMA chief Miguel Miranda told SIC television. "It's the only way we can help those working to help us in the streets."
Lisbon's city hall has been criticised for failing over the years to build infrastructure to prevent flooding. Mayor Carlos Moedas said work to build a 5-km (3-mile) drainage tunnel should start soon.
