Madeira Flood Update - 42 Dead; Single Day's Rainfall Exceeded Monthly Average Total

[hatrack]

FUNCHAL, Portugal (Reuters) - Portuguese rescuers used excavators and their bare hands on Sunday to sift through mud and debris for victims of violent floods and mudslides that killed at least 42 people on the resort island of Madeira. Officials said they feared more bodies had been washed away into the ocean after Saturday's deluge, and flew in divers from the mainland to search for those drowned. Rescue work carried on late into Sunday.

Regional Tourism and Transport Secretary Conceicao Estudante told a briefing four people were still missing. Miguel Albuquerque, the mayor of Madeira's capital Funchal, said some areas above the city were particularly badly hit, likening the scene to Dante's Inferno: "What happened in the higher parts of Funchal was Dantesque," he said in televised remarks. "People were swept away in their cars, houses were swept away."

EDIT

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates visited Madeira late on Saturday, pledging "all aid that the regional government requires in this serious situation." Jardim said he had also requested European Union funds.

Meteorologists said the amount of rainfall that fell in one day on Saturday exceeded the monthly average, but no heavy rainfall was expected on Madeira over the next few days.

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http://tinyurl.com/yescydg

[defendandprotect]

1. Roads cut off --

Many roads in Madeira were partially destroyed or blocked with rocks, trees and mud. It took civil protection services more than 24 hours to reach the village of Curral das Freiras, which had been cut off. Officials said one person had been killed and one was missing there.

We are more threatened by Global Warming than we are by "terrarism" --

and that's the view of the Pentagon which said just that to W Bush --