Guys have you heard about what is going on in Madeira right now?

See - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8527589.stm

Its awful! It looks like the whole island has been affected by all the bad weather and mud slides etc..

As some of you know, my other half is from there so it is more personal for me in some ways! They have been trying to reach family there but have not managed to get through to all of them as yet! The phone lines are down in some places so they are hoping all is well!

I can’t believe it! Can you imagine the work that will go into rebuilding all the damage! Its awful isn’t it? Its such a beautiful island as well!

Some sort of international aid needs to be sorted out - I hopt they get it sooner rather than later

Hi Salina

My heart goes out to everyone on the island, especially those with missing loved ones. Have you managed to get hold of your partner’s relatives yet?

This must come as such a shock to everyone, I thought the weather on Madeira was supposed to be calm and temperate!?

So did I - I have never been there and experienced bad weather or even heard of anyone doing so! Its awful! Its supposed to be year round sunshine!

They have managed to contact everyone except one person but are just hoping that this is due to the phone lines being down more than anything else!

I can’t believe what a big job the clean up is going to be and as far as I have read Spain are the only country to have offered aid so far? How strange is that? Surely being part of the EU should have some meaning and you should get help at times like this?

Hi Salina,

Very good to hear that you’ve managed to get hold of almost everyone, hopefully the phone lines will be fixed soon. Although with hardly any countries offering to help, that might take longer than necessary!

I am shocked that Madeira has struggled to get international aid after the immense effort the world made to help Haiti! I know it was smaller in scale, but it was just as catastrophic for the locals who were affected!

I know its weird isn’t it?

Its still continuing to rain over there as well - I wonder is things will get much worse? I am hoping not though! 

There has been such an effort over there over the last week or so in the clear up that i would hate to see it all go right back to stage one you know?

I haven’t heard anything more in the news, I hope all is well in Madeira??

Hi Jerushah

Yes everything is getting back to normal there now as far as we are aware and luckily none of our family and friends were affected which we are so relieved about!

The rain has been easing up as well so hopefully thats the end of it all out there thank god!

That’s great news, Salina! So glad to hear that your family and friends are all unscathed. As you say, hopefully this will be the end of the storms. I wonder whether tourism will be affected at all? I’m sure that’s the last thing Madeira needs right now.

Well apparently all is ok and flights have resumed as normal and they are saying it is safe to travel now so hopefully not - as I am guessing it must be quite a big portion of the income there?

For sure, I’m certain a beautiful island like that relies heavily on the tourism industry; and I’m sure it will see a dip in tourist numbers after the disaster. You know how people are, they see all the scary pictures on the news and then just assume that it’s a danger zone, without ever really finding out what the full story is.

I’m sure you’ll be back though

Oh definately I will be going back there this year in fact fingers crossed!

I think they will be ok in terms of all the ex pats that come home to see family yearly and so on! The summer isiuaually full of all these people - its awsome!

Good to hear it I would love to go there sometime soon, just need to save up a little cash and time off first! The food must be heavenly - is it mostly seafood dishes that you eat there?

Jerushah - March 26 2010 02:50 AM

Good to hear it I would love to go there sometime soon, just need to save up a little cash and time off first! The food must be heavenly - is it mostly seafood dishes that you eat there?

Oh you definately should it is awsome there - you would love it!

As for the food - its all freshly prepared as you can imagine on an Island like that - mainly seafood and meat! There was loads of beef on the menu’s as well hehe! I ate some wonderful food there and would go back there just to eat haha!