Flood Kills 42 In Portugal

Rescue workers dug through heaps of mud, boulders and debris Sunday in Madeira, searching for victims buried by flash floods and mudslides that already killed at least 42 people on the popular Portuguese island.
More than 120 others were injured and an unknown number were missing, possibly swept away or smothered, authorities said, adding that the death could still rise. Another 250 people were forced to flee their homes and go to shelters.
The worst storm to hit the Atlantic Ocean island since 1993 lashed the capital of Funchal on Saturday, turning some streets into raging torrents of liquid brown mud, water and debris.
“We heard a very loud noise, like rolling thunder, the ground shook and then we realised it was water coming down,” said Simon Burgbage, of Britain.
Madeira is the main island of a Portuguese archipelago of the same name, in the Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of Africa.
The flash floods were so powerful they carved their own paths down mountains and through the city, churning under bridges and even tearing some down. Residents had to cling to railings to make sure they weren’t swept away. Cars were consumed by the force of the water, and the battered shells of overturned vehicles that had been swept downstream littered the streets.
Firefighters used pumping equipment to try to drain an underground parking garage at a downtown department store close to where the heaviest floodwaters descended. Local authorities feared shoppers may have been trapped below ground by the muddy deluge.
A medical team backed up by divers and rescue experts arrived Sunday aboard a C-130 transport plane at the archipelago, 550 miles (900 kilometers) southwest of Lisbon. The plane was also carrying telecommunications equipment.
Prime Minister Jose Socrates said he was “profoundly shocked” by the severity of the floods and promised the government would help Madeira recover as quickly as possible.
Army units based on the island mobilized rescue teams, debris removal crews, bridge specialists and two helicopters to help with the disaster.
The island is popular with British tourists. The British Foreign Office in London said it was “urgently investigating” reports that a British national had gone missing in the flooding. It also said a small number of Britons had been hospitalized on Madeira.
The island’s most famous son, Real Madrid football star Cristiano Ronaldo, was horrified by the floods.
“Nobody can remain indifferent to the disaster,” he told journalists in Madrid. “I want to express my willingness to, as far as I can, help agencies and authorities to overcome the effects of this devastation.”