Well, I´ve got some interesting news. An F2 tornado hit Xanxerê on Monday. It´s been all over the news here; I´m sure you´ll read about it online.
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| photo credit--MetSul Meteorolgia |
On Monday around 2pm Elder Stahn and I were in the Lan house by the bus station.
I had just finished writing my mission president and had opened up
Dad´s email when the power went out. The wind and rain started to pick
up outside and we heard a very loud crash. When we looked out the
door we saw the tornado. It was pretty close to us--we were in the same
section of the city where it touched down. It was coming our way at first, but
turned before it reached our street. I got some video--we saw it
rip the roof off of someone´s house nearby. It moved away out of sight
pretty quickly. The tornado didn´t last very long either.
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Aerial photo of the damage in Xanxerê, Brazil.
(Battalion of Air Operations - Santa Catarina Military Firefighters)
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| photo credit ARCAJO |
The
news makes it look like the whole city was destroyed, but it was really
only one part. Two thirds of Xanxerê didn´t even know about the
tornado till the reports showed up on the news the next day. The area hit
really sustained some damage though; it destroyed a lot of homes. Tuesday and Wenesday Stahn and I went out and helped clear debris all day. I´ll send you some pictures.
[He had trouble uploading the pictures, so we didn't get any photos this week. All the pictures are from the internet.]
The whole city was without power until Tuesday
night. Only two people died in the tornado, as far as I´ve heard. Some
people were injured too. I just feel bad for the people whose homes were
destroyed. Everyone in the city responded to the disaster very quickly
and work is still being done. I´m very happy it didn´t hit any other
parts of the city.
So, my last week in Xanxerê is turning out to be quite dramatic! I'm going to be transferred this Monday.
I´m hurrying to put together your package and pack all my stuff in the
time I have each day
As
far as weather down here, after the tornado it´s been overcast, but
today it´s a little more sunny. The Fall here is like our late spring--but I´m
really ready for winter (
ha ha).
That´s
about it as far as news goes. It looks like you guys didn´t hear about
the tornado, so that´s good! Didn´t want you guys to worry about me.
Sorry to hear about your shoulder injury, Dad! That´s rough. I remember I had a
similar one a few years back while innertubing on Lake Tapps--couldn´t
raise my right arm. I had twisted my pectoral muscle (how, I have no idea).
That´s no fun; hope you get better soon. Love you Dad! Thanks for all you do!
Love you, Mom! Looking forward to talking to you on Mothers Day! Hopefully one of the church members in the new area will have Skype or Facetime.
Talk to you next week!
Elder Duffin
