**Portugal’s armed forces are sending two ships with helicopters and medical supplies to Madeira island, where floods have killed at least 32 people.**Many residents are without water and electricity. The regional capital was among the worst affected areas by Saturday’s floods and mudslides.
PM Jose Socrates has arrived in Madeira to assess the damage on the Atlantic island, which is popular with tourists.
The storms were the worst there since October 1993, when eight people died.
Madeira is located about 900km (560miles) from the Portuguese mainland.
The local civil protection service was “overwhelmed” by calls for help, a duty officer told Reuters news agency.
Interior Minister Rui Pereira said: “We are studying the possibility of declaring a state of emergency and then seeking help from the European Union.”
Madeira’s airport is closed and the mayor of the main city, Funchal mayor, advised residents to stay home.
Television pictures showed muddy torrents coursing down narrow channels and spilling over the sides, roads awash with water and streets littered with debris.
‘Ghost town’
Trees have been brought down and cars swept away, blocking roads and hampering relief teams. Some bridges and roads have been washed away.
MADEIRA FACTS
- Autonomous region of Portugal with population of around 250,000
- Lies just over 480km (300 miles) from West African coast
- The European continent is more than 900km away
British holidaymaker Cathy Sayers told the BBC Funchal was like a ghost town. She said the infrastructure had been wrecked.
“The drains just cannot cope with the water that’s coming down from the mountains - they are just overfilled with sludge.”
There had not really been any warning that it would be quite so bad, she said.
“I think everyone is extremely shocked that this has happened at this time of year,” she said.
Local media say the authorities’ main concern now is for residents of Nuns valley - an isolated mountainous region that rescue workers have been unable to reach.
Regional government leader Alberto Joao Jardim said the authorities were making temporary shelters available for hundreds of people left homeless.
The BBC Weather Centre says the severe weather was due a low pressure system, and that while Madeira can expect further rain with heavy downpours on Sunday, there is no danger of a repeat of the flash floods.
Do you live in the area Have you been affected by the floods and mudslides Are you visiting the island
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