Geography of South America world by drainage area—the Amazon River and the more southerly Paraná River. The other major river of this central lowland is the Orinoco River, which has a natural channel linking it with the Amazon. Most of this central lowland is sparsely populated because the soils are heavily leached, but in the south is the very fertile pampas of Argentina—one of the world's major food-producing regions where wheat and beef cattle are pre-eminent. The natural vegetation of the northern lowlands are either savanna in the northern "llanos" and southern "campos", or tropical rainforest throughout most of the Amazon basin. Efforts to
2012 storm in southern Uruguay home. Luckily enough, it was the week of spring holidays, so children did not have to attend school. Meteorologists considered this to be an extratropical cyclone. General comment was that his cyclone was less severe than the 2005 storm. Three people were reported dead in San José, due to a flood. This storm is part of a regional phenomenon covering also Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia, where other people were reported dead as well. 2012 storm in southern Uruguay In 2012, a strong storm swept across southern Uruguay from 18 to 19 September. The main area affected were the departments on