Severe storms damage 114 municipalities, leave 1 dead and 5 injured in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

A line of instability associated with a cold front crossed Rio Grande do Sul on August 6, producing severe thunderstorms, hail, and strong winds across the state.

Rio Grande do Sul Civil Defense recorded gusts of approximately 120 km/h (75 mph) at different locations. 114 municipalities had submitted incident reports by the end of the afternoon on August 7.

At least one fatality and five injuries were reported in the state. The municipal government said a motorcyclist from Triunfo was traveling on RS-124 when he was struck by a falling tree trunk during the storm in Montenegro.

Montenegro also recorded gusts of approximately 70 km/h (43 mph), while dozens of roofs were damaged and numerous trees were brought down across the municipality.

Damage in Montenegro extended across several parts of the city. A canopy collapsed on Rua Osvaldo Aranha in the city center, windows broke at a gym on Rua Buarque de Macedo, and part of the roof of EMEI Santo Antônio was destroyed. Bela Vista, Industrial, and Aeroclube were among the neighborhoods identified by the municipality as the hardest hit.

Firefighters and Civil Defense handled about 30 calls involving fallen trees and roof damage in Montenegro. Municipal crews and volunteers cleared blocked roads through the night and early morning and distributed more than 1 000 m² (10 764 feet²) of tarpaulin to affected residents. Social-service teams also began registering families for roofing-material assistance.

A large part of Montenegro remained without electricity on the morning of August 7 while utility crews worked to restore service. The outage also affected water capture, producing supply problems in higher parts of the municipality, according to information relayed by the city from water utility Corsan/Aegea.

Across Rio Grande do Sul, 2 306 people were displaced in 28 municipalities. Minas do Leão recorded 500 displaced residents, Novo Hamburgo 480, Sapiranga 360 and São Leopoldo 200. The largest concentrations of roof-damage reports included about 120 incidents in Novo Hamburgo and approximately 90 in Sapiranga.

Meanwhile, three people were injured in Dom Feliciano, one in Osório and one in Novo Hamburgo. Two remained hospitalized at the time of the briefing, and three had been discharged. One of those still hospitalized was a military police officer injured by fragments from a police vehicle.

Farther south, a tornado was reported in the Matarazzo area of Pedro Osório at about 17:15 LT (20:15 UTC) on August 6.

Civil Defense issued an orange alert for the Pedro Osório area at 15:50 LT (18:50 UTC) as the storm line approached. The warning remained in effect until 19:50 LT (22:50 UTC) and covered wind, hail, and a high risk of roof damage. Later that night, a red Cell Broadcast warning for storm winds above 90 km/h (56 mph) was sent to Porto Alegre and 18 other municipalities.

A hospital in Rio Pardo suffered roof damage affecting the maternity unit and allowing water into other areas, forcing the temporary closure of the emergency department, maternity ward, and part of the clinical medicine area. Patients from the maternity unit were moved elsewhere inside the hospital, while three newborns, three postpartum patients, one pregnant patient, and one child remained hospitalized there on August 7.

All elective surgeries scheduled at the Rio Pardo hospital for August 7 were canceled. State regulation had stopped directing new patients to the facility from the previous night because of reduced capacity.

A hospital in Santo Antônio da Patrulha shifted to contingency operations after losing electricity and water. Emergency care and existing hospitalizations continued with generator support, while CT, mammography, and X-ray services were interrupted until power and water returned during the afternoon of August 7.

At Hospital Santa Luzia in Capão da Canoa, instability in the municipal electricity network temporarily limited CT scans to emergency cases before full service resumed later that day.

The State Health Secretariat monitored road access to hospitals, water and electricity supplies, oxygen and blood availability, diesel reserves for generators and structural damage to healthcare facilities. Vaccine stocks from basic health units in municipalities without electricity were transferred to regional health coordination facilities for storage.

Civil Defense raised the severity of Meteorological Notice 12 on the morning of August 6 for regional coordination areas 3, 4 and 6 as conditions developed. State authorities said 33 alerts were issued during the monitoring period as regional and municipal Civil Defense units prepared for the event.

The August 7 statewide impact count remained provisional. Civil Defense said additional municipalities could still report incidents as communications were restored and local damage assessments reached the state agency.

References:

¹ Tempestades provocam danos em 114 municípios e deixam uma vítima e cinco feridos no Rio Grande do Sul – Governo do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul – August 7, 2026

² Defesa Civil confirma tornado em Pedro Osório – Governo do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul – August 6, 2026