Impacts of the storm Hercules in Portugal

• Autor(a) principal: Santos,Ângela
• Data de Publicação: 2014
• Outros Autores: Mendes,Susana, Corte-Real,João
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://scielo.pt/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0430-50272014000200013
• topic: Hercules storm; media; witnesses' accounts; field survey; risk awareness

The aim of this study is to analyse the impacts of the Hercules storm in Portugal. The storm occurred from January 5th to 7th, 2014. A brief characterization of the storm was conducted and the witnesses' accounts were compiled, complemented with field survey before and after the storm. The results show that this event had origin in a strong system of low pressure that hit Portugal. The system triggered strong sea waves with long periods, run-ups between 6 to 9 m, and inundation depths mostly under 1 m. The effects on the Portuguese coastline showed some weaknesses in the spatial planning management: (i) the fact that a wave train restricted to the beaches, front streets, ports and marinas caused significant damage; (ii) some people ignored the emergency management authorities, putting themselves in a risk situation