AlQa'dah 3, 1433, Sep 19, 2012, SPA -- A powerful storm killed five people and injured 81 in Paraguay as it blew across the southern cone of South America on Wednesday, ripping the roofs off of ramshackle homes and leaving thousands of people without shelter, according to AP. With winds gusting to near hurricane strength and heavy rains, the storm system raked across Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay, downing power lines, causing rivers to overflow their banks and flooding coastal areas. Uruguay's government closed shopping malls and shut down its ports as a precaution, suspending ferry service between Montevideo and Buenos Aires. Near Paraguay's capital of Asuncion, four soldiers were killed when their dormitory roof caved in, and a woman was killed by a falling sign. In Uruguay, winds broke the windows in several buildings in the capital, and toppled about a hundred trees. Three of the country's highways were cut off by flooding. The low-pressure system meanwhile sucked humidity from northwestern Argentina, where high winds and unseasonably hot temperatures combined to spark at least eight wildfires.
