Disasters · Chapecó tornadoChapeco airport tornado damages terminal and halts flightsWritten November 5, 2026 at 6:06 AM UTCWatchTranscript0:07A tornado tore roofs from Chapacot Airport as an airliner prepared to take off.0:12Takeoffs and landings are suspended, and the emerator is telling passengers to stay0:17away from the terminal.0:19The shutdown cuts an air connection serving three Brazilian states.0:23When can the damaged airport safely reopen?0:26Winds ripped away part of the metal entrance structure, broke windows and stripped0:31roofs.0:31Internal terminal structures fell, and the main hall and hangars were affected.0:36People rushed for shelter, while emergency teams began assessing the damage.0:41Azul Flight forty-two seventy-four was already on the runway, preparing to depart.0:46The crew stopped the departure before takeoff as visibility deteriorated.0:51The aircraft shook and moved in the wind.0:54The crew discussed waiting for conditions to improve before taxiing back toward the0:58aircraft parking area.1:00Azul identified three cancelled departures.1:03AD forty-two seventy-four.1:05An AD twenty-nine eighty-three were bound for Viracopos.1:09AD forty-three forty-eight was bound for Florianopolis.1:12Those are the specifically identified Azul services within the wider airport1:17shutdown.1:17Azul says affected passengers will be accommodated on other company flights after1:23airport operations resume.1:25The airline also says it's providing assistance to customers and crew.1:29For travelers, that leaves the timing of replacement flights tied to the airport's1:34return to service.1:35Chapeco Airport connects western Santa Catarina with destinations including1:40Viracopos, near Campinas, and Florianopolis.1:44Its passengers also come from western Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná, extending the1:49disruption beyond the city where the tornado struck.1:52The tornado struck Wednesday morning, November4 th,2026 , at1:57Aeroporto Serafim en ospertazo, the airport serving Chapeco.2:03Santa Catarina's civil defense authorities confirmed the tornado after examining2:07weather radar.2:08Their analysis found two features that supported that identification.2:12Radar detected debris carried by the winds.2:16It also showed a rotational signature associated with a mesovortex, a rotating2:22area within the storm.2:23Civil defense specialists used those features together to confirm that a tornado had2:28passed through Cepaco.2:30A tornado is a rotating column of air connecting a storm cloud to the ground.2:35Authorities planned a supplementary drone survey to document the destruction.2:40Meanwhile, weather stations in the city recorded strong gusts at two different2:46locations.2:46The state civil defense station measured ninety-two point nine kilometers an hour,2:52often rounded to ninety-three.2:54A station run by Einmet, Brazil's National Meteorological Institute, recorded3:00gusts reaching one hundred and twenty-six kilometers an hour.3:03Elsewhere in Chapaco, those station readings don't measure the tornado's peak winds3:09at the airport.3:10At the airfield, roofing material reached a small aircraft, and firefighters removed3:16debris from damaged structures.3:18Technical teams began a full infrastructure inspection.3:21The airport's ability to handle flights now depends on making those facilities safe.3:26Wednesday's tornado left the airport without conditions for flights.3:29Mayor Valmor Scolari said, he said it would remain closed until Friday, November6.3:35The airport operator has kept its suspension open-ended, so passengers still have no3:41confirmed hour for flights to restart.3:43The storm also damaged homes across Chapaco.3:46Firefighters helped more than four hundred families.3:49The municipality counted more than two thousand six hundred civil defense responses,3:54and five schools and five health facilities were hit.3:57Officials announced a donation campaign and supplies of roofing tiles for affected4:02households.4:02Firefighters said on November4 th that no storm deaths had been recorded in Chapaco4:08at that stage.4:09An airport-specific injury or death count hasn't been released.4:14At the terminal, Vozap's immediate instruction to passengers is to stay away and4:19contact their airlines.4:21Vosap says operations are suspended for an indefinite period.4:25Its technical teams are inspecting the infrastructure and taking steps to restore4:30service as soon as possible.4:32The operator directs passengers to their airlines for updated information about4:37their flights.4:38Friday is the next date municipal officials have named, but a restart still depends4:43on the inspection, necessary repairs, and an explicit reopening decision.4:48Until the operator announces that decision, takeoffs and landings remain suspended,4:53and passengers should get flight and rebooking information directly from their4:57airline.Read the articleStory timelineHeyDex
