MONTEVIDEO, Aug. 24, 2005 -- A hurricane of 175 km per hour killed six people and caused serious damage in south and east Uruguay, according to official sources on Wednesday.
The wind tore roofs and brought down trees and posts along the Uruguayan coasts on Tuesday night and early Wednesday, causing casualties and water-supply interruption and blackouts.
In the country's capital, Montevideo, the fall of a radio-broadcasting antenna in the poor neighborhood of Cerrito killed two people.
In Canelones Department, neighboring the capital, a 53-year-oldman was killed when he was removing a fallen tree and a falling tree killed a 50-year-old woman while she was looking for her dog.
In the tourist department of Maldonado, 120 km east of Montevideo, a tree fell on a precarious house, killing its occupants.
Montevideo and the affected departments showed the effects of the hurricane, with hundreds of fallen trees and posts and houses without roofs.
The municipal authorities said it will take them at least 48 hours to restore services and electricity supply and clear the roads.
Meteorologists said the hurricane, the most disastrous in decades, was the result of a big depression.
