Atualizações sobre o surto de 1959 e o próprio ano
Contrary to what was previously thought about the year 1959, there weren't 3 tornadoes with F4 intensity, but 5.
ARATIBA(RS)
The first devastating tornado of the year occurred on April 25th, when it struck the cities of Aratiba and Erechim. The tornado caused 10 fatalities and numerous injuries. Most of the houses hit by its most intense core were completely destroyed. One of the observed damages was a location where a roof with part of the ceiling of a house, along with a sturdy fence, were thrown into a field where the soil was completely excavated, and the trees in the region disappeared.
VERANÓPOLIS(RS)
The next devastating tornado occurred at the beginning of Brazil's possible 1959 super-outbreak on August 13, 1959, where it is estimated that between 100 and 140 tornadoes occurred during the 3 days of the event, with 29 confirmed tornadoes recorded. The second devastating tornado of this event was the Veranópolis tornado, which occurred at 9 PM. This tornado formed in São Brás, Veranópolis, and moved towards the rural area of the municipality, causing 12 fatalities and devastating damage. The tornado presented a damage distribution typical of a multi-vortex. Its wind area had F3 damage with some F4 damage points. The tornado had the shape of a large stovepipe. One of its most severe damages was where a masonry house of Italian construction was completely devastated to the ground. This type of construction uses... Heavy basalt blocks joined together with manure and water were lifted and hurled considerable distances at this house, leaving only the foundation behind. This was considered a low-end F4 tornado with some peaks of force approaching mid-end.
CANOINHAS (SC)
The next tornado to occur during the 1959 super outbreak was the Canoinhas tornado, which occurred at 10 PM on August 13th.
This tornado unfortunately resulted in the deaths of 18 people and numerous injuries. It decimated virtually all the houses in its path, causing consistent soil excavation along its entire route. The most insane damage from this tornado was the complete destruction of all structures in its path, leaving the foundations of houses bare and its path completely excavated with debris scattered far apart. The most insane damage from this tornado was the fact that it buried numerous remains of the very houses it destroyed, where the excavation of the soil was throwing earth on top of the rubble. One of the damages to animals was that the tornado caught a chicken and completely buried it, only to find it alive buried inside. The trees hit by this tornado were extremely resistant and some quite tall; these trees were broken in half or uprooted as the intense vortex peeled the bark. The tornado is considered an F4 High-end, with maximum winds close to 400 km/h. Due to the lack of destruction of more resistant structures, it is impossible to accurately estimate its strength. The tornado may have reached an intensity of F5, but according to reports, it resembled a typhoon, which would be a wedge tornado here, maintaining a force of F4 throughout its path.
PORTO UNIÃO, UNIÃO DA VITÓRIA(PR)(SC)
The next tornado formed one day after the last two, on August 14th, between 4 PM and 5 PM. It was a tornado that hit two states in Brazil, probably forming in União da Vitória in Santa Catarina and heading towards the border of Paraná, hitting part of the city of Porto União in Paraná.
This was the second deadliest tornado of the outbreak, taking the lives of 26 people, a tragedy for the city. There isn't much record of this tornado, but it is known that it caused intense soil excavation, exposing and uprooting the vegetation in the region. In the only photographic evidence I found, it's possible to see that the damage destroyed the soil so much that no grass remained. The reported damage to structures was also immense; practically all the houses in its path were pulverized, causing extreme damage. This tornado is considered a possible F4, but it's difficult to estimate its intensity without many records or reports of it.
PALMAS (PR)
This was the worst and most destructive tornado of the outbreak, causing the unfortunate tragedy of 42 deaths and 400 injuries. All structures hit by its most intense core were completely destroyed down to the foundation. It is estimated that its mortality rate within its most intense core or vortex was 66-70%, where for every 3 people hit by its core, only one survived, and sometimes not even that.
The damage to vegetation and soil was practically the same as that observed in Canoinhas, in some places even worse. Extremely well-built wooden houses, with anchoring models from other countries, were destroyed in less than 4 seconds. The wood used was extremely heavy and dense, with a density between 550-1000kg/m³, and incredibly, this debris was thrown kilometers away. The tornado was also moving extremely fast, with an estimated speed of over 100km/h. A 2-story structure belonging to the farm owner, with very strong anchoring and the best structure on the farm, was completely decimated down to the foundation, where the house was destroyed by the direct impact of the wind and not by a drop in pressure.
The Palmas tornado traveled a path of 36km, with an estimated lifespan of between 18 and 25 minutes. Its shape was peculiar, with a condensed funnel between 400 and 800 meters, but its wind area was quite large, with an estimated size between 1.2km and 2km. Looking at this tornado would be like seeing a rotating dust wall with a large, dark funnel in the middle. The tornado maintained a medium to high F4 intensity at its most intense vortex, but as it approached the most resistant structure on the farm, it began to intensify rapidly, destroying a sawmill and throwing a 5-ton tractor like a projectile into a tree that was 48m away. When the tornado hit these areas, it is estimated to have reached the low-end F5 scale with winds between 420-435km/h.
Its wind path was also extremely chaotic, causing damage ranging from F1 to F2, and strangely, in some areas, F3 damage. It's possible the tornado also had multiple intense vortices larger than 120 meters, visually resembling the El Reno tornado of 2013.
This was the deadliest tornado in Brazilian history and also the deadliest outbreak. It is estimated that the 1959 outbreak caused more than 130 fatalities, approaching 200. The cost of this outbreak is estimated at around 5 billion reais, affecting more than 20,000 people, with at least 15,000 left homeless, making it one of the natural disasters that most affected people in Brazil, if not the most.