Buenos Aires, August 11 (Mercopress-RHC) -- Strong hurricane-force winds blew off roofs, knocked down lamp posts and trees and left big areas of Ushuaia, Argentina and Puntas Arenas, Chile without power, according to reports from both cities in the extreme south of the continent.

Ushuaia Mayor Federido Sciurano said: “It was an extraordinary climate phenomenon, which according to forecasts will be followed by heavy snow fall and a dramatic drop in temperatures.”

“We suffered gales over 120 kilometers per hour; we never before had the implosion of glass windows in buildings or the train being knocked over by the wind” said the mayor.

In Punta Arenas according to local authorities the wind blew at over 134 kilometers per hour and left almost 80% of the city without power.

Authorities were deciding late Sunday whether to cancel schools on Monday to complete work, restore power and collect the thousands of cables (power, phones, cable TV) blown to the ground by the strong winds.