The passage of a tornado devastated part of Rio Bonito do Iguaçu municipality, in the interior of Paraná, on Friday afternoon, around 5:30 PM. Buildings were destroyed, residents were trapped under debris, and cars were overturned by the force of the wind. The mayor of the city, Sezar Augusto Bovino, reported three deaths. The Paraná Civil Defense confirmed one death from the tornado and mentioned that teams are working in the city to contain the damage from the weather phenomenon.
“It was raining heavily and about 80% of the city is on the ground. The storm’s force knocked down light poles, ripped off roofs, destroyed buildings, and caught many people returning home. There are many vehicles under debris. There are at least three deaths, two of them elderly. There are also many injured, and hospitals are overcrowded,” the mayor narrated.
According to the mayor, the victims are being treated in hospitals in Laranjeiras do Sul, a neighboring municipality, in a joint effort by doctors from different locations in the region. “There are many injured with head injuries. Outside the hospitals, we have at least three teams of doctors and nurses going around the city to check for people trapped under debris,” Sezar Augusto Bovino said.
The mayor also stated that the Minister of Integration and Regional Development, Waldez Góes, contacted him offering assistance to the city. The Paraná government, on the other hand, mentioned in a statement that it is “fully mobilized and closely monitoring the rains this Friday and their impact on cities in the state.” According to Governor Ratinho Jr.’s administration, the Civil Defense issued red alerts throughout the afternoon and evening for six cities, with significant accumulations in some regions, exceeding 36 mm by early evening. Moreover, the rain is expected to continue throughout Saturday. Strong winds exceeding 70 km/h have also been recorded by Simepar and INMET radars.
“The Civil Defense and our security forces are on alert, mobilized, and monitoring the cities affected by severe storms. Our solidarity goes out to all the population in the affected regions. We remain on constant alert,” the governor wrote on social media.
Metsul pointed out that the tornado is “a micro-scale phenomenon (very small area) and in most cases of short duration (minutes).” “The devastating tornado in the Paraná municipality of Rio Bonito do Iguaçu developed under extremely favorable conditions in the cyclone genesis environment that organized a line of instability with severe storms from the Northwest and North of Rio Grande do Sul, where storms occurred. Moving northward, this line may have also caused a tornado in Dionísio Cerqueira (SC) before reaching Paraná and generating the tornado in Rio Bonito do Iguaçu. The intense instability is now advancing through Paraná, where the risk of new severe storms is high,” Metsul stated.
Storm Warning
On Thursday, the Paraná Civil Defense posted a video on social media warning about the prediction of severe storms on Friday, with the risk of strong winds, rainfall accumulation exceeding 50 millimeters, and hail. “Throughout this Friday, new areas of instability will act upon the state. There is a risk of locally severe storms, with intense wind gusts, heavy rain in a short period, numerous lightning strikes, and isolated hail. Between Saturday and Sunday, the deepening of an extratropical cyclone in the ocean will cause wind gusts between 40 and 60 kilometers per hour across the entire eastern region of the state, favoring rough seas along the coast,” the statement said.
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