Cyclone Leaves 1 Dead and 24 Injured in Brazil

On Thursday, the Civil Defense reported that an extratropical cyclone has devastated southern Brazil, leaving at least one person dead, 24 injured and some 790,000 users without power.

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Between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the cyclone caused floods and the most damage in the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina near the border with Argentina and Uruguay.

In the city of the Rio Grande, one person died when a tree fell on a house as a result of the winds, which reached 140 km per hour on Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Meteorology declared a red alert in the southern region of Brazil due to the extratropical cyclone, the third in the region in less than a month.

Personnel from the Civil Defense and municipalities have prepared gymnasiums and schools as shelters in case of evacuations. At least 10 highways in Rio Grande do Sul were blocked by cyclone damage.

In Florianopolis, the capital of Santa Catarina, a plane skidded at the city's airport and could only be removed from the runway on Thursday morning. The incident caused no injuries or material damage but caused the cancellation of dozens of flights.

The state of Parana issued an "orange alert" for the cyclone, which is also leaving strong gales in southeastern states such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which are capable of producing from cloudiness and mild showers to severe gales, thunderstorms, blizzards, and tornadoes.