More than a million people were left without power Thursday and dozens of flights were cancelled, a day after a cyclone triggered gale-force winds in Brazil's economic capital Sao Paulo, authorities said.

The megalopolis was battered by winds of more than 90 kilometers (55 miles) per hour) on Wednesday, the Sao Paulo state government said in a statement.

This left more than two million people without electricity, 1.2 million of whom had yet to see their power restored almost 24 hours later.

Power utility firm Enel said in a statement that the 12-hour windstorm was considered "historic," with toppled trees hitting power lines.

"The weather event caused severe damage to the electrical infrastructure," said Enel.

The Sao Paulo municipality said in a statement it had received reports of 231 fallen trees.

The state government demanded Enel provide its plan for dealing with such emergency situations, as anger grew over television images of the electricity company's parking lot full of vehicles during the crisis.

The fierce winds also led to hundreds of flight cancellations since Wednesday, sparking chaos at Sao Paulo's two airports, some of the busiest in Latin America, local media reported.

AENA, which operated the city's Congonhas airport, said in a statement that 39 arrivals and 28 departures had been cancelled on Thursday.

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Originally published on doc.afp.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

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