TORNADO KILLS 10 IN ARGENTINA AND 7 IN BRAZIL

'FREAK' STORM AND TORNADO KILLED AT LEAST
17 PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF SOUTH AMERICA

(CNN - AFP) - A violent storm that triggered a tornado has killed at least 10 in Argentina and 7 in Brazil people and destroyed hundreds of houses. Northern Argentina and southern Brazil, and the small countries of Uruguay and Paraguay wedged between them, were hit by fierce rain, hail and winds travelling at more than 70mph. In northeastern Argentina, 10 people died, including seven children, authorities said. More than 50 others were injured, and trees and power lines were toppled in the towns of Santa Rosa, Tobuna and Pozo Azul, said the local civil defence office. Witnesses and local media described the storm as a tornado. The other seven fatalities occurred in Brazil's southern states of Santa Catarina and Sao Paulo, where flooding and mudslides swept through unstable slums.

These high-speed spinning tubes of destructive wind could have been a tornado, said the Argentina's National Meteorological Service. "The phenomenon still hasn't been classified. Experts will have to evaluate the damage," they said. Local officials said they had no warning that a tornado was forming. The provincial minister for Argentina's hard-hit area, Daniel Franco, said it was clear that the storm was "not normal for this area." "We've always had very strong winds and torrential rains here. But this was a phenomenon never seen before. Houses were completely destroyed," he said.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Everything is done by nature in full consciousness; nothing is blind or accidental. This material energy is also called Durgā, which indicates that it is a force which is very difficult to surpass. No one can surpass the laws of Durgā by any amount of childish plans. To get rid of the sufferings of humanity is simultaneously a very difficult and also a very easy affair. As long as the conditioned souls, who are themselves bound up by the laws of nature, manufacture plans to get rid of the three miseries, there will be no solution. The only effective solutions are those mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā, and we have to adopt them in our practical lives for our own benefit.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
"Elevation to Krsna Consciousness - Chapter Two: Hard Struggle for Happiness"