Violent rainstorms have killed at least 32 people on the Portuguese Atlantic island of Madeira, a senior official said, as Lisbon considered declaring an emergency and seeking EU help.
In the meantime, Portugal's military is sending two ships replete with helicopters and medical supplies to the island, where many people are going without electricity and clean water, reports the BBC.
"We already have 32 fatalities and 68 injured, all of them in hospital," Joao Cunha e Silva, the vice president of the island's government, told the private Sic Noticias television channel.
Interior Minister Rui Pereira said: "We are studying the possibility of declaring a state of emergency and then seeking help from the European Union."
Later, Prime Minister Jose Socrates arrived on the island to assess the damage, while the Interior Minister joined him, accompanied by fornsic experts.
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TV pictures have shown enormous walls of muddied water cascading downhill in the capital.
Airport closed
The island's airport was closed on Saturday and Funchal mayor Miguel Albuquerque advised residents to stay at home. Several people were injured, local officials said.
The overnight strong winds and heavy rain caused flooding and landslides and brought down trees, particularly in the south of Madeira, a resort island 900km southwest of the Portuguese mainland.
Winds exceeding 100km/h, high seas and blocked roads had made things more difficult for emergency services, though weathermen said the worst was over in the island, about 500km from the African coast.
Electricity and telephone networks were severed in many areas.
Eldery woman killed in collapsed house
In Funchal, an elderly woman died when the roof of her house caved in while two others were crushed by a crane on Saturday, local media reported.
Several Funchal residents were evacuated from their homes.
"It had been raining since dawn and our hotel was evacuated as it is near a river in the city centre," said Aymeric Payan, a French hotel employee in Funchal.
Portuguese media said the storms were the deadliest in Madeira since October 1993, when eight people died.
