Nov 23, 2021 (Lusa) – The inhabitants of Fajã de São João, on the Azorean island of São Jorge, can now move out of the area via an old access road to that area, the mayor of Calheta told Lusa today.
Décio Pereira said that the path “bypasses the collapse” that isolated the fajã on Monday and will be used to transport an electric generator, owned by the Electricity Company of the Azores (EDA), in order to combat the lack of electricity.
Thirty-two people were isolated in Fajã de São João due to the landslide that occurred at 07:30 (08:30 in Lisbon) on Monday, an incident that caused no casualties. Telephone and radio communications have been working without disturbance, according to the Azores Civil Protection.
Fajãs are small flatlands by the sea and exist in large numbers on the island of São Jorge, some of which are inhabitable throughout the year and others seasonally, during the summer.
According to the mayor, a helicopter is on the scene and has already transported some inhabitants out of the fajã for professional reasons.
This morning work is underway to make an assessment of how long it will take to clear the main access road to the fajã, still according to Décio Pereira.
On Monday afternoon, the regional Civil Protection expected that the fajã will continue without its main access for another 48 hours.
The mayor of Calheta said, however, that the access road to Fajã dos Vimes is “with normalized traffic” after a landslide occurred there, but smaller.
