Cyclone Leslie slams into Portugal, leaves 27 injured

A weakened hurricane Leslie has hit Portugal, leaving 27 people injured as it uprooted trees and smashed store windows with gusting winds and heavy rain. 

Luis Belo Costa of Portugal’s National Protection Agency says Sunday those injuries were not life-threatening. He said over 60 people were forced to leave their homes by the storm.

Leslie had been downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane to a post-tropical cyclone with winds of 110 kph (70 mph) by the time it landed on Portugal’s Atlantic coast late Saturday.

But state broadcaster RTP says wind speeds reached 170 kph (105 mph) in the coastal town of Figueira da Foz, 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Lisbon. Portugal’s weather service had issued red warnings for high winds or dangerous coastal conditions for 13 of its 18 mainland districts, including Lisbon.