SAO PAULO, Dec 11 (Reuters) - About 1.5 million homes

and businesses were without electricity on Thursday after an

extratropical cyclone swept through Sao Paulo's metropolitan

area, toppling trees and power lines and disrupting flights and

the water supply.

Damaging wind storms also caused vast power outages in 2023

and 2024, putting utility firm Enel under intense

public scrutiny.

Enel said gusts of up to 98 km/h (61 mph) battered the

region during a 12-hour gale on Wednesday, with impacts

lingering into Thursday across the city of 11.5 million people

and the wider metro region.

About 2 million customers in the area lost electricity

during the storm's peak, Enel said in a statement early on

Thursday, adding that service had been restored to 500,000.

Power regulator Aneel demanded the company provide detailed

explanations for the disruptions.

Water utility Sabesp warned that outages had hit

its pumps, affecting neighborhoods across the area.

"The long time without power to pump water heavily impacted

the system. Supply is being resumed gradually," Sabesp said.

Air travel also faced disruptions. Airport operator Aena

said Sao Paulo's Congonhas Airport, which handles

domestic flights, was open on Thursday but had canceled 31

arrivals and 15 departures, after scratching 181 flights on

Wednesday.

At Guarulhos International Airport, one of Latin America's

busiest, 61 arrivals and 56 departures were canceled since

Wednesday, its operator said in a separate statement, adding

that operations were back to normal early on Thursday.