This is an article from news.com.au about the Argentine "Tornado":
World Breaking News
South America storm kills 14
From correspondents in Buenos AiresAgence France-PresseSeptember 09, 2009 04:57am+-PrintEmailShare
A FIERCE storm described in places as a "tornado" shredded hundreds of houses and killed at least 14 people in the southern part of South America overnight, officials said.
Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay were all hit by the cold front packing rain, hail and winds over 100km/h.
In northeastern Argentina, near the border with the two other countries, 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 Ricardo Veselka Corrales, head of the local civil defence office.
Several local media reports described the storm as a tornado, but meteorologists called it a severe depression, where tropical warm air and frigid air collide to create instability.
Provincial minister Daniel Franco described the storm as "out of the ordinary in this region".
The devastation was "incredible", said the mayor of San Pedro, Orlando Wolfart.
"This is something we've never seen," he said, noting that several homes had been wiped from their foundations.
Television images showed swathes of a destroyed landscape, with several homes levelled and others still standing but with their roofs ripped off. Argentina's Health Minister Juan Manzur was to travel to the region.
In the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, four people died when winds knocked over 90 houses.
The state's civil defence service said at least another 64 people were hurt, 40 of whom were hospitalised. Another 370 homes suffered damage.
One town in the state, Sao Domingos, was isolated, while several others had water and electricity supplies cut.
The head of the service, Major Marcio Luiz Alves, said "the real extent of the damage will be known in the next few hours".
In Sao Paulo, Latin America's biggest city, the storm turned the sky so dark that it appeared to be night, with occasional bolts of lightning and the persistent rumbling of thunder.
Heavy rain caused flooding in 28 spots around the city and brought normally congested roads to a standstill.
The G1 news website said pilots of airliners arriving at Sao Paulo's main domestic airport of Congonhas were forced to land using instruments because of zero visibility. More than a dozen flights were delayed.
In Paraguay, hail stones peppered roofs and damaged about 700 rural properties.
"Damage was registered in the areas of Neembucu, San Pedro, Paraguari, Cordillera, Canindeyu and Caaguazu. Many crops were damaged, according to initial reports," the risk manager for the country's emergency service, Aldo Saldivar, said.
The change in weather saw temperatures in the capital Asuncion suddenly plunge from 35 degrees celsius to 12 degrees.
(Courtesy: News.com.au)
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