The Douro River registered a considerable rise overnight today and the day is expected to be “difficult in terms of flow control” due to the heavy rain forecast for the North of Portugal and Spain, according to the Douro Captaincy.
“We have already observed a considerable increase in the level of the Carrapatelo reservoir, in the city of Peso da Régua [distrito de Vila Real]. It has already reached 10.7 meters, which means that the water has already reached the riverbank. It didn’t go much further than that and it remained stable, but it’s already a considerable amount. Here [zonas do Porto e Vila Nova de Gaia] During the day we have to maintain supervision because there is still a lot of water”, said the captaincy’s assistant commander, Pedro Cervaens.
In a situation update to the Lusa agency, at around 7:30 am, the deputy commander of the Captaincy of Douro said that the heavy rainfall predicted for today makes this day “deserving of a lot of attention”.
“The elevation in the estuary is also always around 5 meters. Therefore, Miragaia [no Porto] yesterday [terça-feira] already added some water. Nothing significant, but it has already entered a little. We believe that today could also be a difficult day in terms of flow control. Therefore, it is possible that these areas with lower elevations will suffer water ingress again”, he warned.
The municipality of Porto will have the Municipal Civil Protection Emergency Plan (PMEPC) active until 11:59 pm on Sunday, after the Government placed 48 municipalities in a contingency situation due to the occurrence or high risk of flooding, as reported on Monday.
Vila Nova de Gaia also activated the Municipal Civil Protection Emergency Plan (PMEPC) until Sunday, reads an order dated Saturday and published on Monday on the municipality’s website.
Bad weather with lots of rain, wind and sea disturbances led the Douro Captaincy to activate, last week, the red alert for the risk of flooding.
Lusa
Leave a Reply