Uruguay has been hit by strong winds and high waves as a subtropical cyclone swept through the South American nation.
A 23-year-old man was killed when a tree fell on his house amid gusts of 98km/h (61mph) in the capital, Montevideo.
Seaside roads were covered in foam whipped up by the waves.
After battering Uruguay, Cyclone Yakecan moved north to Brazil, where it caused widespread power cuts.
Yakecan, meaning “heaven’s sound” in the Guaraní language, triggered an orange alert – the second highest – in Uruguay.
Roofs were blown off and trees uprooted on the coast and also further inland.
Journalist Leonardo Pedrouza posted footage of the esplanade in the seaside resort of Punte del Este completely covered in foam.
In southern Brazil, 220,000 homes were left without power as Yakecan blew over trees which in turn cut power lines.
Worst affected was the state of Rio Grande do Sul, to the north of Uruguay.
A boat carrying three people ran aground during the cyclone on Lake Guaíba in Porto Alegre. A 51-year-old man drowned while the two other men on board managed to swim ashore.
Temperatures have been forecast to plummet in several Brazilian states and there have already been hailstorms in southern Santa Catarina state.
A sandstorm that lasted 20 minutes had caused significant damage to houses in the town of Catanduva in São Paulo, Brazil.
Sandstorms also blanketed other cities and towns in the state causing the sky to turn different shades of orange and brown. The skylines across the state changed colour as strong winds combined with a drought has hit the country.
Not all droughts were due to climate change, but excess heat in the atmosphere was drawing more moisture out of the earth and making droughts worse.
The world had already warmed by about 1.2C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.
A tornado has been filmed tearing through part of the US state of Kansas, with pictures showing cars crumpled into buildings and homes without roofs.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued severe thunderstorm warnings for Midwest states including Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.
In the city of Wichita, the mayor said 50 to 100 structures had been damaged, especially in the suburb of Andover. -BBC
