Although Funchal experienced a somewhat strange day with warm weather and low visibility, Santana was still affected by heavy rains.
Between 19:00 and 22:00 last night, a 116 litres of rain fell per square metre, forcing the IPMA to upgrade their original orange weather warning to red. Furthermore, two ground lightening strikes were recorded in São Jorge and/or Arco São Jorge at 20:31 and 20:33.
The Volunteer Firefighters of Santana have spent today clearing and cleaning roads, while Dinarte Fernandes, President of the municipality, has been in permanent contact with local citizens in order to understand the affects of the storm.
However, despite the heavy rains, only a few floods have been recorded, and as yet there has been little or no personal damage reported.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
