Hydrological Hazard or Water Resource

Hydrological Hazard or Water Resource Issue

Extreme weather phenomena frequently take place in various places from around the world, and while some of them are forecasted, others take people by surprise, taking a high toll on their lives. The severe rainfalls from the island of Madeira, Portugal, have killed tens of people through the flooding and the landslides that followed as a result. Madeira is a well-known tourist destination and the people located the island at the time when the disaster took place had been enjoying a carnival week. Partying had just started in the streets of the island's capital, Funchal, when an Atlantic storm hit the coasts.

It had been raining for a few days and the locals had been complaining that the abundance of rain was highly unusual. The floods and mudslides on the 20th of February, 2010, had obviously been the result of an extreme weather event. The weather struck with great speed, making it virtually impossible for people to respond in due time and eventually causing the death of more than 40 people. In addition to the victims the rescue teams had found, the natural disaster had left a large number of people injured while others have been reported missing. The rescuers had been obstructed by the fall of electricity, phone signal and phone lines. Moreover, they could not act properly because of the strong winds and because several bridges and roads had been destroyed.

The devastating flooding in Madeira has been a very surprising weather event, given the fact that the locals had not experienced a weather phenomenon of such proportions for more than a century. The island is generally renowned for its gentle weather and for the predominance of sunny weather during winter time. The storm had actually been compared by some with monsoons from the southern Asian regions.

The best explanation for the growth in precipitations would be that an active cold front advanced near the region at the time, replacing the warmer air present on the island. The land could not resist to the saturation caused by the winds and the heavy rain and it had not been long before the aftermath materialized into swollen mountain streams. This later resulted into cascades of mud mixed with water running down the slopes in serious amounts. In spite of the fact that the island had several drains and catch basins which could be very effective in case of a small flood, they had been no match for the one on the February 20. The three rivers crossing Funchal, apparently meant to prevent flood water from entering the city, had been one of the motives for the waters quickly moving towards the streets.

A state of panic overtook the area, as the authorities were practically powerless. The intervention of the military had been crucial, as engineers could repair some of the structures that had suffered minor damage, while military rescue teams assisted by dogs had started to look for victims among the debris.

Only a small number of the people caught by the flood in their cars had survived the incident. Reports had mentioned a man standing helpless watching as his wife and son had been taken away by the flooding.