At least five people were killed and over 130 people were injured after a violent tornado struck Brazil's municipality of Rio Bonito do Iguaçu in Parana on Friday afternoon, November 7. Video shared on social media sites shows a huge twister destroying the city.
Simepar (Environmental Technology and Monitoring System of Paraná) preliminarily classified the tornado as F2, which is equivalent to winds between 180 km/h and 250 km/h. It was also forecast that some parts of the city may receive winds 250 km/h, which would change the classification to F3.
Parana state government has issued a statement, saying, "An Intense low-pressure system was formed between Paraguay and the south of the country propelled the movement of a cold front throughout the afternoon and evening of this Friday, associated with the movement of an extratropical cyclone from the continent to the ocean. Due to this combination of systems, several severe storms were recorded over the western, southwestern, and south-central regions of the state."
Destruction in Rio Bonito do Iguaçu City
Simepar Meteorologist Reinaldo Kneib said that the team is continuing to monitor and analyse the aerial images with the help of Civil Defence. According to Climatempo, the cyclone is associated with a cold front and may generate wind gusts above 100 km/h in states such as Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and São Paulo. The forecast indicates that the phenomenon should move across the sea until Sunday (9), also affecting the coast of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo.