MORE STORMS BATTER TENERIFE

SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Thursday February 18 2010

AUTHORITIES declared a red alert as 100 kph (60mph) winds and thunder storms swept across the Canaries on Wednesday and Thursday.

by JAMES TWEEDIE

Following a weather alert from the Canarian government and the Spanish Met Office, Tenerife's Cabildo government kept its emergency plan – activated on Tuesday – in effect.
It closed one lane each of the TF-1 motorway from Wednesday to Thursday afternoon as a precaution against high winds and a section of the TF-82 due to rock falls. The capital Santa Cruz' Tranvia tram system suffered severe delays.
The Cabildo advised residents and businesses to avoid all unnecessary journeys, to stay indoors, keep windows and doors shut and ensure that all electrical appliances were switched off before locking up premises.

The force 10 storm was still blowing hard on Thursday morning. Gusts of up to 120 kph (75 mph) overturned portaloos set up for the Santa Cruz carnival and ripping the roof off at least one building.
Boat owners rushed to save their vessels from waves up to 5 metres (16 feet) high which lashed the coasts of the Canaries.
Across the archipelago trees and radio masts were blown down.
All schools and beaches were closed along with the roads into Mount Teide national park, where temperatures fell to to 5 degrees centigrade and snow fell in the highlands, as it did in the Picos de las Nieves mountains of Gran Canaria.
Many businesses also did not open.
By the afternoon heavy showers had overwhelmed the inadequate storm drain system and the roads were flowing with rainwater.
The entire island suffered a complete blackout at noon, leaving more than 800,000 people without electricity for more than four hours. Some thirty per cent of the island still had no electricity at 7 pm
It was only the second total power cut in the Island's history, the first being in March 2009.
The island of La Palma and south and south-east Tenerife were worst hit, with floods in some areas. La Palma's airport was closed and ferries from the port of Agaete in Tenerife were cancelled.

The island – now in the midst of carnival week – is still cleaning up after the February 1 storm and flash floods which caused more than €11 million worth of damage, including flooded homes, offices and shops, collapsed roads and a derailed tram in the capital.

The mystery of the Guanches

The origins and language of the indigenous people of the Canary Islands remain a mystery, writes Dr Sabina Goralski Filonov Translation by James Tweedie The guanches, the aboriginals of the Canary Islands whose origin, lost in the mists of time, still arouses intense and passionate debate and great controversy about their origins and the how the seven Canary Islands were populated – which according to some studies occurred between 10,000 and 8,000 years BC. Literally, the word ‘Guan’ means man or person and ‘Chenech’ or ‘Chinet’ is applied to the island of Tenerife, thus meaning a man or inhabitant of Tenerife – although according to Núñez de la Peña, the Spanish named them the Guanchos during the conquest of the islands. But with the passage of time, experts in the subject are questioning whether the word Guanche was used to designate the primitive inhabitants of all the islands in the pre-Hispanic period. The term ‘Guanche’ has also ceased to be applied to the distin

Venezuela condemns MUD silence over terror attack

Venezuela’s foreign minister condemned the opposition and their foreign backers for their silence over Tuesday’s helicopter attack on the capital. At a press conference on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Samuel Moncada said Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition leader Henry Ramos’ only comment on social media was that the attack was “useless.” “Firstly that does not condemn it,” Mr Moncada said. “Secondly it appears he was condemning it because it didn’t have the desired effect, that is to say, that it would blow up the building.” And he asked why fellow Mud leader Henrique Capriles lacked the “moral courage to... repudiate a terrorist act.” The newly-appointed minster and former ambassador to Britain accused fellow members of the Washington-based Organisation of American States of “feigning ignorance” and so protecting the culprits. And he accused sections of the media of portraying the culprit — Police investigator and one-time action film star Oscar Perez — as a “Rambo

Los Gigantes Beach Landslide Tragedy - Three Days of Mourning for Victims

SHATTERED IDYLL: Los Guios beach in Los Gigantes in happier times. SANTIAGO del Teide council declared three days of official mourning after two women were killed in a landslide on Los Gigantes beach on November 1. by James Tweedie The local authority announced the period of mourning following an emergency council meeting on Monday November 2, called in response to the tragic deaths of 57-year old British holidaymaker Marion O’Hara and 34-year old Canarian hotel worker Maria Vanesa Arias Romera. Flags at Santiago del Teide town hall were flown at half mast for the period of mourning, and all official functions observed a minute’s silence in memory of the victims. The two women were killed when 130-foot wide stretch of the cliffs above the tiny Los Guios beach collapsed from a height of about 200 feet, burying them beneath rubble up to 15 feet deep, according to a spokesman for the Guardia Civil which was conducting the investigation into the accident. The landslide occurred about 3pm

Ex-pats hail extinction of ‘mammoth’ development

Socialists and conservatives unite to defeat CC plan for Las Teresitas beach Protesters outside the town hall SAN ANDREAS residents are celebrating victory after Santa Cruz council voted to deny permission for a controversial development on Las Teresitas beach. by James Tweedie The Association of Friends of Anaga, Las Teresitas and its Coast (Asociacion de Amigos de la Playa de las Teresitas, Anaga y su Litoral), which includes a number of ex-patriots, mounted a demonstration outside Santa Cruz town hall on Friday September 18 to urge opposition councillors to “keep their word” and support a Socialist Party of the Canaries (PSC) motion against the mammoth development. Some wore long paper ‘noses’ and chanted “concejal Pinocho” – councillor Pinocchio – to express their distrust of local politicians. A coalition of small businesses in Anaga, the Friends of the Port group and environmentalists Ben Magec – Ecologistas en Accion also supported the campaign against the scheme

Venezuelan opposition declares "Zero Hour" for regime change

Venezuela’s opposition declared “Zero Hour” in its putsch against the socialist government on Monday — emboldened by US support. Leaders of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mud) coalition gathered for the announcement of their takeover plan a day after their unauthorised referendum seeking a mandate for regime change. National Assembly vice-president and Popular Will (VP) acting leader Freddy Guevara said the Mud-controlled parliament would announce the results of the plebiscite on Tuesday. It asked voters to reject President Nicolas Maduro’s calling of a constitutional reform assembly demand the army support the opposition and back a “national unity government.” But before the announcement of the result Mr Guevara said the national Assembly would form a new government on Tuesday — a move beyond its constitutional powers — along with 1,020 local “Zero Hour committees.” He called a “national general strike” for Thursday while on Friday the assembly would again exceed its powe

Search This Blog