Madeira floods kill scores as storm sweeps tourist island

Heavy rain and high winds bring down trees and trigger massive mudslides

At least 32 people were killed yesterday as cars and houses were swept away ­during flooding and mudslides ­triggered by a violent storm on the Portugese island of Madeira.

Emergency services struggled to cope as roads were blocked by fallen trees and bridges collapsed, isolating parts of the popular tourist destination, which lies some 560 miles off the south-west coast of Portugal.

As flood waters rose yesterday people fled from low-lying areas of the main city of Funchal, where 69 casualties were taken to hospital and the airport was closed.

Phone lines were knocked out, forcing emergency rescue services to appeal over local radio stations for ­off-duty doctors and nurses to report, while local authorities called in ­workers to operate heavy machinery to clear roads and remove debris.

Following the extreme overnight weather – with violent winds of more than 60 miles per hour and torrential rain – television footage yesterday showed powerful streams of water and mud streaming through the streets of Funchal, dragging and overturning cars and felling trees.

Cathy Sayers, a British holidaymaker in the city, told the BBC: "It's extraordinary that the infrastructure has been decimated by the water cascading down the hill. Looking at cars, it's just like they are puppets in the streets.

"We have had very bad weather in the last week, which is very unusual because this is normally a sunny time of the year to come here. Looking at the sea now, the waves are absolutely enormous.

"There was not really any kind of warning, particularly any warning that it would be quite so bad. The drains just cannot cope with the water that's coming down from the mountains – they are just overfilled with sludge."

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said it had received no reports of ­injuries among British tourists, who were being advised to stay indoors.

Along with Funchal, other towns and villages on the island's south coast are thought to have been worst hit, particularly the district of Ribeira Brava, where a number of people died.A major concern for the emergency services was for residents of the Nuns valley, a mountainous area that rescue workers have had difficulty reaching.

Conditions eased last night and the authorities were making temporary shelters available for several hundred people who were left homeless, though further rain is forecast today.

The storms were the deadliest to hit Madeira since October 1993 when eight people died. Madeira's regional ­president, Alberto João Jardim, spoke to European Commission president José Manuel Barroso to appeal for ­emergency aid.

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