Albufeira hit by tornado

A tornado hit the centre of Albufeira early this morning, damaging vehicles and street furniture and uprooting trees.

 

This is the third tornado to hit the region this year with one of the two in March destroying a Roma camp but giving the President of the Republic an opportunity to kiss babies and assure the Roma community that he was not just the president for clean and scrubbed white people.

 

The 'worm roundabout' area was worst hit early this morning with damage reported to at least a dozen vehicles in the Pingo Doce car park.

 

Despite the flying debris, no casualties were reported but there was plenty of damage to the area in the five minute storm which saw hoardings and signage destroyed in the howling wind.

 

Local Bombeiros managed to tidy up the area before the morning traffic, cutting and removing fall trees and sweeping away debris.

 

Localised flooding and wind damage was reported across the region as the Algarve again was battered by high winds and heavy seas. 

The weather station in Carvoeiro recorded a wind speed of 104.6 kmph at 2:43 this morning.

Throughout the morning, firefighters were called to remove trees and fallen structures in Estômbar, Guia, Portimão, Aljezur, Santa Bárbara de Nexe, Faro and Quarteira.

In addition to the strong wind, rain also bucketed down throughout much of the night, causing flooding in some areas of the Algarve, notably in Boliqueime and Aljezur.