Floods in Lisbon force more than 100 evacuations, leave 1 dead

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Lisbon and nearby areas saw significant flooding on Wednesday night, killing one and forcing more than 100 people to flee their homes.

The victim was a 55-year-old woman who lived in a basement apartment in Alges, in the Greater Lisbon area. While resting at home Wednesday night, the torrential rains rapidly flooded her home. Her husband, who she lived with, was rescued, according to Andre Fernandes, head of Portugal’s emergency services.

Videos showed rescue teams nearly up to their necks in the water while walking down the street in Alges.

At the same time, more than 100 people were evacuated from their homes in the Lisbon municipality of Amadora, where videos showed significant flooding of the metro station.

In total, authorities said they had to respond to nearly 700 flood-related incidents, rescuing at least 47 people from their cars.

On Thursday morning, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa visited affected areas in Lisbon.

Speaking to the media, he said the floods showed that the Portuguese capital needs better infrastructure to reduce floods.

“We have been talking about this infrastructure for 20 years. But we are finally going to start building it (drainage tunnels) this March, and we will get rid of the problem of flooding once and for all,” said Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas alongside the president.

Moedas promised that the drainage will be ready by 2025.

In the meantime, most of continental Portugal remains on yellow alert for heavy rain until Friday evening.