Lisbon City Council has unveiled a map of emergency meeting points for the city’s residents in case of extreme weather events such as flooding, tsunamis, and earthquakes in the wake of more than 150 people getting killed amid flooding in Spain this October.
The map is at https://www.lisboa.pt/temas/seguranca-e-prevencao/protecao-civil/planeamento-de-emergencia/pontos-de-encontro.
The meeting points — which appear to be predominantly based in parks — are meant to be places the authorities deem safe enough to accommodate about 600,000 residents altogether, according to the news agency Lusa (Lisbon’s population is around 570,000 within its “administrative” area – that rises to roughly 3 million in the broader metropolitan area).
The authorities say these points have the conditions needed to ensure some form of refuge in major disasters, including a reasonable distance from potentially collapsing real estate and such.
But it’s unclear whether Lisbon is equipped to deal with the kind of flooding that trapped thousands of Spaniards in Valencia in precarious situations last month.
As Jorge Mendes, commander of the Volunteer Firefighters of Cabo Ruivo, told CNN Portugal, “Theoretically, we are prepared for that situation. In practice, we are not.”
The council’s website also has information on emergency preparedness, including its recommended basic emergency kit: water, dry or canned food, flashlight, whistle, battery-operated radio, spare batteries, thermal blanket, personal hygiene items, essential medicines, and first aid kit. (Atlas tip: throw in a water purification kit, either mechanical – a pump – and/or chemical – iodine, chlorine, or tablets containing either).
And there’s a handy presentation that includes various risk-maps, such as one showing which parts of Lisbon are most vulnerable to flooding or present the highest risk of electrocution, and so on, if you wanted some fun reading before the weekend: https://www.lisboa.pt/fileadmin/portal/temas/seguranca/documentos/PCML_Pontos_de_Encontro_30OUT2024_VF_MCM.pdf
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