A man and his mother were trapped inside their home in Estación Central, in the Metropolitan Region, after a tree fell on the house. This happened after the tornado that hit the municipality on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 13, amid heavy rain in the capital.
According to T13, specialized personnel arrived to remove the debris and allow the family to get out. The man could not open the gate to his house because fallen trees were blocking it.
Speaking to T13 En Vivo, the resident described how it all began: "It started with a hailstorm, then came a wind that moved the trees". He added that he was watching the security cameras at the time and that the electricity then went out.
Other residents in the area reported that a utility pole fell on their homes. The sources do not indicate how many homes were damaged or whether anyone was injured.
The Chilean Meteorological Directorate (DMC) conducted a preliminary analysis of the phenomenon and concluded that it could have been an EF0 tornado, according to El Desconcierto. This is the lowest intensity level on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which classifies tornadoes according to the damage they cause and estimated winds.
According to the DMC, the event formed from convective clouds with tornadic characteristics. Estimated winds reached between 105 and 137 kilometers per hour, and the temperature dropped 10 degrees in less than five minutes.
On Alameda, near the Terminal Sur bus terminal, the wind tore off part of a roof and lifted roofing sheets and other objects. Red de Emergencia ONG posted on X that the gusts blew roofs off at that terminal.
This phenomenon has almost no precedent in Santiago. The only documented tornado in the capital dates to May 14, 1893, in Conchalí. That year, Alphonse Nogués described it in a scientific publication and recorded damage to physician José Joaquín Aguirre's property, including toppled pillars and broken tree branches.
During the same storm, various parts of Santiago experienced flooded streets, damaged roofs and power outages. Some Metro stations closed because their entrances flooded, although trains continued running.
The EF0 classification is still provisional. The DMC continues to study the phenomenon to determine its characteristics more precisely and issue the final classification.
