Destruction reaches more than 20,000 homes

[Hyperstorm]

Tubarão - A few days after the floods of 1974 were remembered, another tragedy affects the State. In Santa Catarina, around 20 thousand houses were damaged, out of them 500 were completely destroyed, injuring 70 thousand people in 21 towns, according to information from the state government. These destroyed houses were in the cities of Maracajá, Balneário Gaivota and Arroio do Silva. In Somber and Rincão, lightposts were pulled out by the force of the winds.

In Rio Grande do Sul, more than 430 houses were destroyed in six cities. Torres was the most affected (300 houses and 150 homeless). In Rondinha, the roofs of 30 houses were partially destroyed. There are more than 90 houses in Paraiso that were totally destroyed, five in Dom Pedro de Alcântara, three in Curumim and three in Arroio do Sal. The homeless are being sheltered in schools, churches and public buildings. The mayor of Torres, Joe Baptist Milanez, declared a state of emergency in the town.



Deaths - Edson Lourenço Quirino, 42, is the name of the man that died in the early morning hours on Sunday in Maracajá when a tree in the BR-101 fell into the car he was driving.

Others two occupants were injured: a woman in a critical state, that was submitted to surgery during the night, and an infant that is in observation in the hospital. This was one of the two deaths recorded as of last night due to hurricane Catarina, that reached the southern part of the country between Saturday night and yesterday morning.

In the BR-101, between Criciúma and Sombrio, the road was impassable because of mudslides and downed trees. During the day yesterday, 30 kilometers of the road became congested on both ways.

In Torres, a 61 year old man was found dead at about the 2:00 in the early morning. According to the Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul, there is still no precise information on the cause of the death. The body is in the IML of Torres.