Two hours of torrential rain brought Faro to a standstill this afternoon with the Citizen’s Shop and market shut down due to water pouring in and endangering electrical systems.
The worst downpour was at around 2pm that caused traffic to halt as streets flooded, especially between the downtown area and the market.
The Largo de São Francisco, the largest park in the city was one of the worst affected with the Pontinha underground car park flooded with some vehicles parked on the lower floors having to be removed to safety. 
Firefighters were called out in all directions to pump out basements as the thunder rolled across the region and the downpour continued.
According to the District Command of Relief Operations (CDOS) in Faro, despite the intensity of the rain, there were no injuries reported, and ‘all occurrences are being resolved.’
Faro’s mayor said that council service teams last week had been clearing out drains in preparation for the predicted rain storm.
In Albufeira, several parts of the city were flooded and many shop and bar owners saw water flooding in as it had done on November 1st, 2015 when €25 million of damage was recorded. No civil engineering work has been started on new flood defences to counter the annual deluge with shopkeepers concerned that the same thing will happen all over again. The downtown area was flooded again (see picture to the right but not as badly as last year.
Flooding was registered in Lagos, Portimão, Silves, São Brás de Alportel, Olhão, Monchique, Lagoa and Vila Real de Santo António as well as the regional capital and flood prone Albufeira. A tornado swept though Olhão before heading off into the countryside, leaving behind damaged trees, cards and buildings.
The national weather service, (IPMA), said the rain will continue off and on until Thursday morning, with some hail and lightening to keep us on our toes, although admitting this sort of weather is rather hard to pin down with any degree of certainty.
The IPMA has put ten districts of mainland Portugal and Madeira under orange and yellow warning notices due to rain, wind and high seas, up to 5.5 metre waves along the Algarve’s shores rising to ten metres along the west coast.
The districts of Setúbal, Beja and Faro are under a less scary 'yellow warning' due to predictions of more heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds, gusting up to 75 kilometers per hour and reaching 90 kilometers on high ground.
Right on time, almost to the year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has now paid compensation for some of the damages caused by the November 1st, 2015 floods in Albufeira.
The total paid out by this munificent organ of the State was €135,000 from the closely guarded Emergency Account.
Of the 179 applications, 78 were rejected and told to go and borrow the money from another fund set up to support trade, services and tourism.
The remaining applications were carefully analysed and 48 applications were found to be OK, leaving 53 with zero. The average compensation was €2,800 for the repair and reconstruction of houses, lost or damaged goods and equipment, damaged vehicles and replacement stock.
This photo is by David Pickering Photography
