প্রকাশ: 13/07/2022
Several wildfires
swept across Portugal's central region on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of
hundreds of locals as firefighters struggled to put out flames at a time the
country is battling a sweltering heatwave.
With temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit)
in many parts, a major wildfire that started last week in the Ourém
municipality, north of Lisbon, was reignited on Tuesday due to strong winds.
The Civil Protection authority said 300 people were
evacuated from several villages. In the nearby municipality of Leiria, some
houses burned down, with the blazes causing the closure of three main highways.
Joaquim Gomes, a 75-year-old retiree who has lived in a tiny
village in Ourém for five decades, said he was afraid the wildfire could reach
his home but was willing to do everything in his power to help fight it.
"I don't remember anything like what is happening
today," he said near the village's bar where locals were gathered.
"It (the fire) is everywhere."
Many locals have complained there were not enough
firefighters and resources to combat the fires.
"We are talking about complex situations, a lot of
resources to manage and a very large affected area," said Civil Protection
commander Andre Fernandes, warning the situation would only get worse over the
next few days.
Around 1,700 firefighters backed by 501 vehicles were
tackling 14 active blazes across the country, according to the Civil
Protection. More than half of the country is on "red alert", the
highest level.
In neighbouring Spain, at least 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres)
have been destroyed by a fire in Las Hurdes in Extremadura, western Spain,
forcing the evacuation of about 400 residents, the regional government said on
Tuesday.
There was a high risk of wildfires in the central region of
Castille and Leon, authorities said.
The northwestern province of Ourense was on red alert as
temperatures were expected to reach 42 C.
"It is indeed a season with more heat than other years
... it's hard," said Edison Vladimir, 42-year-old delivery worker in
Madrid.
'TAKE ACTIONS'
In the Portuguese capital, which is buzzing with tourists,
people were trying to keep cool by drinking water, eating ice cream or heading
to the riverside or nearby beaches.
At a small beach area by the river Tagus, a British couple
and their toddler enjoyed the morning sunshine before it got too hot to be out.
"We kept an eye on the weather before we came, and we
knew it was going to be hot ... it's quite similar back in the UK but we don't
have air con there," 28-year-old Megan Slancey said.
Britain's Met Office has issued an extreme heat warning as
temperatures continue to increase this week and early next week in much of
England and Wales.
Clare Nullis, a World Meteorological Organisation
spokesperson, told a UN briefing on Tuesday that although the heatwave,
Europe's second this year, was mainly affecting Portugal and Spain, it was
likely to spread elsewhere.
"It is affecting large parts of Europe and it will
intensify," Nullis said.
With human-caused climate change triggering droughts, the
number of extreme wildfires is expected to increase 30% within the next 28
years, according to a February 2022 UN report.
"You definitely see that the weather has changed over
the last few years," said 51-year-old Paul de Almeida, a South African
visiting Lisbon. "We have to take actions to solve it."
- Reuters
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