A rare cyclone bringing strong winds and rain may have killed seven fishermen and had damaged houses and caused blackouts on the southern coast of Brazil, civil defence officials said on Sunday.
Brazil's official weather service has denied the weather phenomenon is a hurricane as US meteorologists said earlier, but warned of gusty winds in the southern state of Santa Catarina on Sunday.
"The center of the cyclone is already above the ground in Santa Catarina and we have some municipalities without power, some roofs damaged by wind and by trees," said Civil Defence Capt. Marcio Luiz Alves.
He said one fishing boat sank on Saturday night and its crew of seven was missing.
"There are fears that they drowned, Also, there are four fishing boats in a critical situation as they cannot return to the shore due to the storm," Alves said.
Wind speed in some areas of Santa Catarina reached over 60 mph (100 kph), while waves reached to 16 feet (5 metres).
Alves said an early storm warning allowed civil defence officials to warn residents and many had left the shore area.
He said the storm was expected to lose its strength by the morning as it hit a mountain range.
On Friday, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said the first hurricane ever was forming in the south Atlantic off the coast of Brazil, classifying it as a Category 1 hurricane - the least powerful on forecasters' five-level scale, with winds between 74 and 95 mph (119 and 153 kph).
Kelen Andrade, a meteorologist with the state Weather Forecasting and Climatic Studies Center said that while satellite images could have suggested a hurricane, more detailed studies showed an extra-tropical cyclone.
"Brazil has never had hurricanes and it is not having one now," she said, explaining the eye of a hurricane was hotter than its edges, while the center of an extra-tropical cyclone, which forms above colder waters, was cold.
Wind speed in a cyclone also tended to be lower than that of a hurricane, weather officials said.
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