IT WAS supposed to be carnival week in Funchal, but what began as a week of dressing up and partying in the streets ended in tragedy and gloom. Madeira’s chief city normally bustles with tourists but yesterday it was eerily empty, like a town under curfew, as this small, tranquil island began counting the costs, both in terms of lives and in the damage to its economy.
It had been raining heavily for much of the week, and already local people were complaining this was unusual. But nobody was prepared for what happened early on Saturday morning when a wild Atlantic storm struck.
The wind howled and the heavens opened. It was a torrential downpour, more like being caught in a south Asian monsoon than on an island famed for gentle weather and winter sun. And once it had started, it went on, and on.
Madeira is a vast volcanic rock that sits in the sea. The water came cascading down the steep slopes of the mountains. Huge brown torrents of water swept angrily down the ravines. By mid-morning on Saturday there were mudslips and bits of mountain were coming down. The island’s infrastructure began to buckle. Mobile phone signals disappeared, landlines stopped working and there were electricity cuts. The airport was closed.
Torrents of water appeared suddenly, catching drivers in their cars. The worst story was told by Norberto Castro, who was driving with his wife and child on a road outside Funchal. “The car began to slide and I saw that I was losing control,” he said. “I told my wife to get out with the child. I saw them fighting against the water and a man trying to help them. They were washed away.”
The body of his five-year-old son was found pinned against some railings by the water. His wife and the man who tried to help her are still missing.
There was damage all across the island and yesterday rescuers were still trying to get through to remote parts of Madeira. In Funchal much of the damage was caused by the main river, which normally flows along the bottom of a channel that runs through the town. The storm turned it into a river of sludge, overflowing its banks and sweeping away bridges. Trees and masonry were swept along, getting tangled up in bridges until they gave way under the force of the water.
The water and mud flowed out onto the two main roads on either side of the channel, the Rua 31 de Janeiro and the Rua 5 de Outubro, and into neighbouring streets. Two other channels that pass through the city were also reported to have overflowed.
The lower down the slope you were, the more terrifying it was. The worst damage was by the seafront, where it looked like the sea had risen, swallowing up the promenade, the marina and the restaurants along it. All that could be seen of the cars were their roofs and all the restaurants and bars were flooded or closed. Portuguese authorities said it was the worst tragedy on the island for almost a century. – (Guardian service)