First Ever South Atlantic Cyclone Batters Brazil

CURITIBA, Brazil, March 29, 2004 (ENS) - A storm of unprecendented ferocity battered Brazil's southern coast Sunday killing two people and injuring 60 others. The cyclone destroyed 20,000 homes and has left thousands of families homeless.

Winds were clocked at 150 kilometers (81 nautical miles or knots) per hour, far above the 65 knot wind threshold for classification as a Category 1 hurricane, also called a cyclone.

These wind speeds overwhelmed an early dispute between Brazilian and U.S. meteorologists over whether or not the storm was severe enough to be considered a cyclone. The Brazilians originally maintained that the winds were blowing at speeds of only 120 kilometers, but later on Sunday acknowledged the higher wind speed.

Brazilian meteorologists are now calling the storm Cyclone Catherine, but at first it had no name as no cyclone has ever been recorded in the South Atlantic before. No government agency has an official warning system for storms here.

Cyclone Catherine off the coast of southern Brazil (Photo courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC)

Many cities in the region are without electricity or telephone service.

In Santa Catarina, a tree fell on a vehicle, killing the driver and wounding his wife and another passenger. In Rio Grande Do Sul, a child died during a landslide that buried his house.

The situation is critical on the BR-101 highway in the stretch between Criciúma and Araranguá, where at least 50 trees have been knocked down. In the city of Criciúma, Mayor Décio Góes has declared a state of emergency. Many homes were destroyed and 95 homeless people, including 35 children, are sheltering in a school.

In Criciúma, 500 people have been taken to two hospitals. Health workers say most of the injuries were not caused directly by the storm, but were indirect results such as heart attacks. Fear of what could occur increased the number of automobile accidents, they said.

In Araranguá, 200 houses have been completely destroyed by the force of the winds.

Military Police Captain Márcio Luiz Alves, Civil Defense chief for Santa Catarina, said that assistance teams are having difficulty reaching many of the points affected by the cyclone.

At sea four boats have disappeared off the coast of Santa Catarina where waves have reached heights of five meters (17 feet). Navy rescuers are searching for 11 people lost at sea.