On the evening of November 8, 2025, the town of Rio Bonito do Iguaçu in Brazil’s southern Paraná state was forever changed. In just a matter of minutes, a violent tornado—packing winds that topped 250 kilometers per hour—ripped through the community of 14,000, leaving devastation in its wake. According to the Paraná state government, the twister killed at least six people, injured around 750, and left one person missing. The toll on the town’s infrastructure and spirit is incalculable, with officials estimating that up to 90 percent of the area suffered damage.
Drone footage and aerial photographs, widely circulated by outlets like Reuters and AP, reveal the full extent of the destruction: homes flattened, schools reduced to piles of rubble, and cars tossed about as if they were children’s toys. The images are haunting. "It destroyed everything. It destroyed the town, houses, schools. What will become of us?" Roselei Dalcandon, a local shopkeeper, told reporters as she surveyed what remained of her business, according to the Associated Press.
Rescue teams, including more than 50 firefighters, spent hours combing through the debris, searching for survivors and victims. The scene was described as a “war zone” by several local officials, and the head of the Paraná Civil Defense agency, Fernando Schunig, told G1, “It is a war scene.” He added, “When these events hit an urban area, the damage is major. It is very lethal.”
The tornado was so severe that it prompted the declaration of a state of emergency not only in Rio Bonito do Iguaçu but in at least 14 cities across Paraná. The nearby city of Guarapuava also reported casualties and significant damage, with one of the confirmed fatalities being a 53-year-old man. Among the dead in Rio Bonito do Iguaçu were three men, one woman, and a 14-year-old girl, according to the Paraná state government and reports compiled by Xinhua and Bernama. The disaster left at least 1,000 people homeless, and about 28 were still without shelter as of Saturday.
Hospitals in the region were quickly overwhelmed, treating dozens of seriously injured residents. Of the hundreds hurt, nine were listed in serious condition. Emergency shelters were established in neighboring towns to accommodate those displaced, and local authorities worked alongside federal agencies to coordinate relief and recovery operations.
As the community began to reckon with its losses, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva moved swiftly to express solidarity and mobilize the federal response. “We will continue to assist the people of Paraná and provide all the help needed,” Lula wrote on X (formerly Twitter), echoing the sentiments of many across the country. He announced the deployment of disaster response teams, reconstruction personnel, and emergency health services. In addition, Institutional Relations Minister Gleisi Hoffmann and acting Health Minister Adriano Massuda traveled to the area on November 9 to oversee relief efforts firsthand.
The state government, led by Governor Carlos Massa Ratinho Júnior, declared three days of official mourning for the victims and introduced a bill to provide direct payments of up to 50,000 reais (about 9,400 US dollars) to families affected by the storm. This financial aid is intended to help residents begin rebuilding their lives, but the road to recovery will undoubtedly be long and challenging.
The tornado’s ferocity was confirmed by meteorologists from the Paraná Environmental Monitoring and Technology System (Simepar), who rated the storm as an EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale—a measure that runs from EF0 to EF5. Initially, the tornado was thought to be an EF2, but subsequent assessments of the destruction led to the higher classification. The event was attributed to the formation of an extratropical cyclone, a powerful weather system that swept through southern Brazil, bringing with it hail, heavy rain, and gale-force winds.
“Since the beginning of November, several cities in Paraná have faced heavy rains, storms, gales, and hail, which led the State Government to take emergency measures to release resources, assist victims, and rebuild affected areas,” the government stated in a release cited by AFP and local media. The disaster comes on the heels of other extreme weather events in southern Brazil. Just last year, the region was hit by catastrophic flooding in Rio Grande do Sul, which left more than 200 people dead and displaced two million—a tragedy that experts say was exacerbated by global warming.
As search and rescue operations continued through the weekend, the full scale of the tornado’s impact became clearer. Roads were blocked, power lines were downed, and basic services were interrupted across much of Rio Bonito do Iguaçu. The state’s civil defense agency reported that over half of the urban area experienced roof collapses and multiple structural failures, complicating efforts to reach those in need.
Local and federal officials made visits to the hardest-hit areas, offering not just words of comfort but tangible support. Aid convoys distributed food, hygiene supplies, tarpaulins, mattresses, and other essentials to those who had lost everything. The government’s rapid mobilization was praised by residents, but the sense of shock and grief was palpable. Ligia Daiana Back, a resident who lost her home, was seen weeping over the debris, a stark reminder of the human cost behind the statistics.
For a town like Rio Bonito do Iguaçu, where everyone seems to know everyone else, the tragedy feels deeply personal. Stories of heroism and heartbreak have begun to emerge—neighbors pulling each other from the rubble, families searching for missing loved ones, and volunteers working around the clock. The resilience of the community is evident, but so too is the magnitude of the challenge ahead.
While the immediate focus remains on rescue and relief, questions about the increasing frequency and intensity of such storms linger. Meteorologists and climate experts continue to study the patterns, and many in Brazil are calling for renewed attention to climate adaptation and disaster preparedness. For now, though, the people of Rio Bonito do Iguaçu are focused on the basics: finding shelter, mourning their losses, and taking the first steps toward rebuilding.
In the face of overwhelming destruction, the response from both local and national authorities has been swift and substantial. Yet for those on the ground, the journey to recovery is only just beginning—a testament to the enduring spirit of a community determined not to be defined by disaster, but by its resilience and hope for the future.
