Unprecedented strong winds cause 6 deaths in Brazil

Brazilian media reported that exceptionally violent sandstorms have killed at least six people in Sao Paulo in recent weeks, while the southeast of the country is suffering from a severe drought.
Meteorological media have monitored huge orange dust clouds over the countryside, accompanied by winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour, at least three times since the end of September, which sparked terror among residents of cities and rural areas in the cities of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais.

Local media reported that the six deaths in Sao Paulo were caused by falling trees and houses and other direct repercussions of the storms.

Meteorologist Estelle Seas described these storms as “in some ways, a common phenomenon, but not on the scale that we saw in 2021,” adding that they occurred after “a long period of lack of rain, high temperature and low humidity.”

The expert pointed out that rains accompanied by strong winds usually fall after the dry season, explaining in the context that “the winds touch the sandy land and carry pollution, waste and fire residues to the atmosphere, which also occur during the dry period,” and that “strong storms cannot be separated from the change of weather.” the climate”.

The meteorologist noted that “in the current century, record temperatures are recorded every year. There is more heat in the atmosphere that has just turned into energy for extreme weather events: rain, storms and floods, as well as drought, cold and heat.”

He believed that “what happened is unleashing the events of such dust storms” that “can occur in desert areas and rise thousands of meters in the sky and at a distance of 160 kilometers and last for several hours.”

In addition to the severe drought, there are wide open areas not covered by vegetation in the agricultural sectors, which also makes the land at risk of being exposed to high winds.

Brazil is currently facing the worst drought in 91 years, which has caused a sharp drop in the water level in hydroelectric power reserves in the central-western and southern part of the country, which has led to high electricity costs.