Hurricane Lorenzo passed through the western and central groups of the Azores archipelago in the early hours of the morning of October 2nd. All the Islands suffered from heavy rain, powerful winds and a huge storm surge with Lajes das Flores, Lajes do Pico and Porto Pim on Faial suffering significant damage.

Published 5 years ago

The eye of the storm passed to the west of the archipelago, so the predominant waves came from the southwest. These were predicted to reach 18 meters in one forecast.  Winds of around 100 kts were recorded in Flores, 75 kts in Faial and 60 kts in Terceira. No significant damage has been reported from either Graciosa or São Jorge.

Linda Lane Thornton of SV Coromandel who lives on Terceira sent Noonsite the following damage summary on the ports that were badly affected:

Flores – Lajes das Flores

Flores is the westernmost island of the Azores archipelago and its main port, Lajes das Flores, is situated on the southeast coast.

The main infrastructure of the outer harbor wall was severely damaged, with the main structural concrete blocks being displaced by the waves.  This resulted in huge cascades of water entering the port area, moving containers and destroying buildings. Many containers were washed into the marina area, whilst others ended up either on the rocks or the beach.

This serious damage jeopardizes supplies to the Island as well as making it impossible to visit at this time.

Pico – Lajes do Pico

Pico and Faial are part of the central group of Islands and lie next to each other. The port of Lajes do Pico is located on the south coast of Pico.

Waves hitting the outer reef at Lajes do Pico flooded the marina area causing damage to the pontoons. A call to the marina would be wise before visiting.

Houses and business premises were also damaged on the waterfront and approx. 100 people were evacuated from their homes during the storm.

Faial – Porto Pim

Porto Pim lies behind and to the south of the port at Horta and is open to the southwest. At this popular beach the waves were funnelled into the bay, overtopping the seafront wall and entering homes and business premises. Some 39 people were evacuated. 

Fortunately, the marina in Horta is protected from the south and southwest and suffered no damage.

As yet there have been no reports of serious injuries, although the police were called out to over 180 incidents, such as falling trees.

It will take a significant amount of time to repair the structures, and it should be remembered that winter is now approaching when depressions from North America take a more southerly route. The Portuguese Government has promised that the repairs will be effected as soon as possible.

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Further Reading: 

The Algarve Daily News

Our thanks to Linda for helping with quick and accurate information.