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Topic: A Hurricane in the South Atlantic..and in March!
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Trafield
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Wow! More signs of the times?
Luke 21:25-26
25“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,
26men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
A Hurricane in the South Atlantic?
Fierce Storm Proves Deadly in Brazil, Baffles Weathermen
By BERND RADOWITZ, AP
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040328032809990001&_mpc=news%2e10%2e3
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (March 29) - A powerful storm lashed Brazil's southern coast, damaging thousands of homes, killing two people and terrifying residents who had never before seen such a strong storm.
"We've never seen anything like this."
-Sgt. Carlos Carvalho
The storm, dubbed Catarina, hit the coasts of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul states late Saturday with heavy rains and winds, before dissipating over land late Sunday.
American meteorologists said winds exceeded 74 mph, which would make it the first hurricane on record in the South Atlantic. Brazilian scientists originally disagreed, but on Sunday they said the winds could have been as high as 94 mph - above hurricane strength.
Brazil has never seen a hurricane, and residents said they were terrified when the storm roared ashore about 520 miles southwest of Rio de Janeiro, pounding homes with heavy rains and wind.
"It was like hammering on the houses,'' said Athaide Cambruzi, who lives in the resort town of Icara. "I saw seven beach houses literally smashed by the wind and the water.''
Authorities were searching for 11 fishermen missing off the coast of Santa Catarina state after two boats sank nine miles offshore in 13-feet-high waves early Sunday, Navy Commander Paolo Baltore said.
The storm cut phone lines to many towns, and the number of injuries was expected to rise as reports trickled in from those areas, said Marcio Luiz Alves, an official with the Santa Catarina state Civil Defense.
The storm damaged an estimated 20,000 homes in Santa Catarina, destroying 500 of them completely. That left about 1,500 people homeless and forced as many as 15,000 to flee their homes, Alves said.
In the town of Ararangua, at least 5,500 houses lost their roofs, said firefighter Sgt. Carlos Carvalho. Shelters were being set up in schools.
"We've never seen anything like this,'' he said.
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On Saturday, meteorologists from the Brazilian Center for Weather Forecasting and Climatic Studies were calling the storm an "extra-tropical cyclone'' with estimated winds of 50-56 mph.
But the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami estimated the storm was a full-fledged, Category I hurricane with central winds of 75-80 mph. A private U.S. forecasting company, AccuWeather, said it also considered the storm a hurricane.
On Sunday, Brazilian scientists acknowledged they were surprised by the intensity of the storm. Brazil has no wind-measuring devices in the affected areas, and both the American and Brazilian scientists said they were basing their estimates on satellite data.
Marcelo Moraes, a meteorologist at the Integrated Climate Center of Santa Catarina state, said winds could have reached 94 mph. Hurricanes begin at 74 mph.
Near the city of Criciuma in Santa Catarina state, a tree smashed into a car and killed the driver, officials said. His wife was seriously injured. At least 34 others also were injured throughout the state, the civil defense said.
Strong winds and falling trees destroyed some 200 homes and damaged another 3,000 in Criciuma alone, civil defense officials said.
Off the coast, a police helicopter and air force plane were scanning the sea in hopes of finding the missing fishermen, Baltore said. A navy rescue vessel was also headed to the site.
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