Damage From Alex Not As Bad As Azorean Officials Feared

Officials on the Azores closed down all non-essential services due to concerns over Hurricane Alex.

However, by the time the storm made landfall Friday morning it had been downgraded to a tropical storm.

Now that the storm has passed officials are finding that damage wasn't as bad as as bad as some feared it would be.

There is some flooding here and there, some trees that fell, but nothing really, really concerning and fortunately nobody was injured or we don't have the occurence of any deaths related to this storm, which is good" said Pedro Carneiro, the Portguese Consul in New Bedford.

Carneiro says winds still remain strong and turbulent seas are also concern.

While those issues do still remain Carneiro says life is starting to return to normal.

"In the island of San Miguel some portions of the island didn't have electricity, but that situation is being handled by the electricity company and flights will most likely be resumed either today or tomorrow," said Carneiro.

Carneiro advises those with family in the Azores to continue monitoring news reports and to try and contact relatives on the islands.