In a scene reminiscent of pictures from Kansas or New Orleans, large parts of Santiago were hit by a sudden tornado yesterday afternoon. Pictures of smashed vehicles (see Diario Libre), uprooted trees and trash-strewn streets were common. Power lines were blown down, signs toppled and traffic came to a standstill for nearly an hour. According to the La Informacion, the kiosks and displays for the Regional Book Fair set to open on Saturday were blown about and some were badly damaged. Francisco Arias, the local Civil Defense director reported that parts of Los Salados, Los Pepines, El Ensueno, La Herradura, La Loteria and the area around Estrella Sadhala Avenue and the Monument were reporting the worst damage. Falling trees and flying branches damaged or partly destroyed several cars. The Mega Vision television tower was knocked over by the winds. No human victims were reported, but a lot of cleaning up now remains to be done.