We're used to extratropical cyclones here in southern Brazil; they happen every year, but I can't imagine what it would be like to witness a hurricane.
The government still refuses to admit the negligence that occurred at the time. American metrologists sent constant warnings to Brazil, and the reaction of the government and agencies was simply to mock them, saying that for Americans everything was a hurricane, and they completely ignored the warnings. To this day, the agencies and the government pretend that none of this happened.
I apologize for any translation errors or inconsistencies; I used Google Translate.
I know there's a lack of information, but since the case was completely ignored by the government and meteorological agencies, I couldn't find reliable data on wind speed and things like that.