Canoinhas - a tornado magnet in south Brazil
There have been more confirmed violent tornadoes in this county with twisters happening in the years of 1948, 1959, 1991, 1992, 2002 2007 and 2020, the deadliest of which was the 1948 one killing twenty-three people. The tornado of 1959 wasn't any less intense, leaving sixteen dead and throwing vehicles hundreds of feet into the air. About some of those storms:
The tornado that hit Canoinhas in 1948 was one of the most violent in the history of the state of Santa Catarina. According to the city's Historical Archive, the phenomenon occurred in the locality of Valinhos, in the North Plateau, and left a trail of destruction and death. The wind speed was estimated at 300 km/h, which corresponds to an F3 category tornado on the Fujita scale. At least twenty-three people lost their lives and over eighty were injured. The tornado was recorded on May 16, 1948, on a Sunday evening.
The locality of Rio dos Pardos suffered a devastating tornado in 1959, which left a scene of destruction and death. According to reports, sixteen people died and forty-five were injured. Houses were torn from the ground and objects were thrown long distances. Trees were uprooted and crops were ruined. A jeep traveling on the road was thrown by the wind. The damage was estimated at ten million cruzeiros. The next day, the landscape was desolate, with few traces of the life that had been there.
A tornado devastated Evaza Farm in Canoinhas, Santa Catarina, on September 6, 2002. It was the worst tornado recorded in the region since 1959. The phenomenon caused one death, five injuries, and significant property damage. Houses were ripped from the ground and thrown long distances. Trees were broken and launched into the air. Birds were found dead in the treetops. The fire department had difficulty reaching the disaster site as the road was blocked by logs and branches.
The most recent tornado in the region occurred on August 14, 2020, 20 km from Rio dos Pardos (Canoinhas), the same region that was hit by a violent tornado on August 13, 1959. According to the Civil Defense, the tornado had an F2 intensity on the Fujita scale, which measures wind strength, and caused damage to approximately 100 houses and five industrial sheds. No one was injured, but many families lost their belongings and needed humanitarian assistance.
The images and information on this post were first compiled by Cristiano Zucco (@weather.zucco on Instagram).