Health authorities at the Direcção-Geral de Saúde (DGS) have warned that the country needs to start preparing for a summer that is set to be one of the hottest ever. Basing this alert on long-term weather forecasts, the DGS explains that fatalities will be higher during the expected heat waves this summer as no major flu outbreaks were recorded in Portugal during the winter.

“There were few cases of flu, which will lead to higher fatalities”, the DGS deputy-director José Robalo told delegates at the Coimbra University Hospital thus week.

Delegates had met in Coimbra to witness the unveiling of contingency plans for the anticipated heat waves this summer.

Regional health director Ana Correia substantiated Mr Robalo’s fears.

“Some of the people that managed to survive flu outbreaks in the winter will not make it through the summer”, she predicted.

José Tereso, health delegate for central Portugal, meanwhile called on authorities to issue “information on daily basis but in a manner that is institutional and informal”.

He called on official entities to cut through institutional red-tape and to facilitate the passing on of information, saying: “We are all in the same boat”.

Official figures indicate the five heat waves recorded between May and September last year directly resulted in the deaths of 1,259 people, seven hundred fewer than the 2,000 heat-related fatalities reported in 2003.

But the hottest summer ever was 2005.

It was also found that there was an increase of 12.5 percent in people seeking the help of hospitals during last year’s heat waves.

While the five heat waves experienced last year are not uncommon, meteorologists say their frequency is definitely on the rise.

The first heat wave of 2006 was recorded almost a month (May 24) before the official start of summer.

A heat wave is recorded when temperatures are at least five degrees above averages for a period of at least six consecutive days.

Heat waves can therefore literally be recorded in winter, though they are more prominent in Portugal during the months of June and August.

A number of extraordinary weather patterns were also recorded in 2006, such as the 11-day heat wave in July (Alentejo) that was deemed the longest of its kind since the beginning of World War II.

Another exceptional occurrence was reported in July when first average temperatures fell to lows not seen for decades along with unseasonal heavy rainfall and localised flooding, followed by thermometers shooting up to levels that have made August 2006 one of the hottest 15 months on record.

Figures released at the end of March by the US government meanwhile showed that this past winter was the hottest in the northern hemisphere since records were first taken in 1880.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) combined temperatures in the northern hemisphere between December and February were 0.72 degrees Celsius warmer than the average for the past 127 years.

The record temperatures, NOAA added, were also assisted by the seasonal phenomenon known as El Niño, which has been given part of the blame for helping make January the warmest on record.

Health authorities have this week issued details of its contingency plans for the summer.

The plan is based on three levels of alert.

The first is green, which indicates that temperatures are normal for the time of year.

Level two (yellow) indicates “high temperatures which could have adverse health effects”.

When a yellow alert is issued, the general population will be warned and hospitals put on alert.

Red alert is announced when soaring temperatures “cause serious health problems”.

Besides authorities being put on alert, transport will be supplied for risk groups such as the elderly who will be taken to make-shift shelters such as museums, cinemas, community centres, libraries and shopping centres.

The Portugal News