In São Paulo, Cristina Malcov, 67, described spending over 48 hours without power in her Mirandópolis neighborhood, relying on flashlights and staying with relatives in Interlagos. She reported that most local businesses remained closed as of Wednesday. National media reported that more than 400 flights were cancelled or rescheduled in the days following the storm’s arrival. While Enel stated on Monday that operations had returned to normal and 99% of power was restored, the company acknowledged that technicians are still addressing complex network reconstruction cases, affecting approximately 0.4% of customers in the metropolitan region.
Political pressure is mounting on the energy provider. São Paulo Mayor Ricardo Nunes and Governor Tarcísio de Freitas have called for federal intervention in Enel’s electricity distribution concession, which expires in 2028. Deputy Sâmia Bonfim has filed a request with the public prosecutor’s office to terminate the concession, citing the company’s history of poor performance during extreme weather events. Brazil’s National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) issued a statement to distribution companies in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, reinforcing contingency plans to ensure supply continuity in the coming days.
Simultaneously, severe weather affected the state of Paraná, where the Paraná Environmental Technology and Monitoring System (Simepar) confirmed two tornadoes. The first occurred near Francisco Alves on September 9 at 17:00 local time, developing from a supercell that also produced heavy hail. Simepar noted no direct damage was associated with the tornado’s passage, preventing an intensity classification. A second tornado was confirmed at 00:40 on September 10 in Espigão Alto do Iguaçu, with damage assessments underway to determine intensity via Fujita-scale criteria.
The storm system also triggered a landslide in the Ronda neighborhood of Ponta Grossa on the morning of September 10, killing a 21-year-old couple and their five-year-old child. Firefighters found the victims buried by soil and debris inside a bedroom. According to Paraná’s Civil Defense Information System, 583 people were affected across 11 municipalities, with Espigão Alto do Iguaçu accounting for 500 of those impacted. Approximately 22,900 customer units in Paraná were without electricity, with restoration crews actively working to reduce interruptions.
Climatologists note that such events are becoming more frequent in Brazil’s Southeast, a region that historically experienced cyclones of this magnitude rarely. Tercio Ambrizzi, a professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of São Paulo, stated that atmospheric warming favors the occurrence of more frequent and intense extremes. “Our cities are not prepared,” Ambrizzi said, citing governmental slowness in adapting to this new climate reality. He emphasized the need for stronger evacuation protocols and investment in energy transition to mitigate damage from climate-related events.
The National Institute of Meteorology (INMET) warned of continued atmospheric instability, forecasting that an extratropical cyclone formed between northeastern Rio Grande do Sul and the Atlantic Ocean on September 11 was expected to reach maximum intensity by September 12. Red warnings for dangerous thunderstorms were issued for parts of Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul, with forecasts for surface gusts above 70 km/h and accumulated rainfall exceeding 150 mm in parts of southern and southeastern Brazil.
