Sixty-six people were evacuated from some locations due to the floods and following the Leonardo depression, which affected some areas of the municipality, the Municipality of Leiria revealed today.
According to information from the municipality led by Gonçalo Lopes, 45 people were evacuated in the São Romão area and 21 in the Ponte das Mestras area.
Several areas are now flooded in the city and rural areas of Leiria, and the focus “is on the floods” after the municipality was seriously affected by the Kristin depression, revealed councilor Luís Lopes.
“We already have several flooded areas, both in the city and in more rural areas”Luís Lopes told journalists, at Firefighters Sapadores de Leiria, where the municipality’s operations center is located.
According to the councilor responsible for Civil Protection, this morning “the need for preventive evacuations in some locations” was anticipated.
“We pre-positioned the Marine boats here in Leiria and we will also do it here in this same barracks, so we have more availability if necessary”he said, adding that the reinforcement of road closures in several locations is also taking place.
These cuts are “all associated with the Lis River and the Lena River [este afluente do primeiro]which will continue throughout the day”because the forecast is that “flows will only start to reduce, probably, from 4:00 pm, 6:00 pm”.
In the city of Leiria, the places that experience flooding are the Leiria Professional School area, where “all the parking is flooded, which was something that was already predictable”.
In addition, the area of the National Launch Center and Jardim da Almuinha Grande, to which are added “a large part of the Lis fields which are already very conditioned”, and the area of Ponte das Mestras, in Barosa.
According to the mayor, “the night was, essentially, with a lot of precipitation, particularly between 03:00 and 05:00, and with a lot of wind”, with flooding being recorded in cellars and garages, and, again, “some falls of structures and trees which, after the last few days, were already expected to happen”, given the instability and saturation of the soil.
On Wednesday night, “some people were already removed” from the house.
“We asked them not to stay in those spaces, thus avoiding evacuation”he said, adding that the authorities’ focus is on the floods.
“Our focus at the moment is on the floods. Therefore, despite having a large workforce throughout the municipality, still removing structures that, again, fell this night, we will maintain the water supply to the population, which is also critical, and we will focus on the occurrence of floods, to minimize their impact, given that it is expected that the flows will only start to reduce after 4:00 pm”but until then Leiria will “still have many flooded areas”, he warned.
He asked residents to stop “removing the fences and removing the tapes [de sinalização]”, because they are only putting themselves at risk”, and they are diverting from Civil Protection “resources that are very important for everything else” that needs to be done.
Lusa
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