Floods kill dozens in Argentina
More than 50 people have died as flooding from days of torrential rains swamped Argentina’s low-lying capital and province of Buenos Aires.
At least 46 died yesterday in and around the city of La Plata, Governor Daniel Scioli said. Six deaths were reported a day earlier in the nation’s capital.
Many people climbed on to their roofs in the pouring rain after storm sewers backed up. Water surged up through drains in their kitchen and bathroom floors, and then poured in over their windowsills.
“It started to rain really hard in the evening, and began to flood,” said Augustina Garcia Orsi, a 25-year-old student.
“I panicked. In two seconds, I was up to my knees in water. It came up through the drains – I couldn’t do anything.”
The rains also flooded the country’s largest refinery, causing a fire that took hours to put out. The La Plata refinery suspended operations as a result, and Argentina’s YPF oil company said an emergency team was evaluating how to get it restarted.
“Such intense rain in so little time has left many people trapped in their cars, in the streets, in some cases electrocuted,” Mr Scioli said.
“We are giving priority to rescuing people who have been stuck in trees or on the roofs of their homes.”
But many complained that they had to rescue themselves and their neighbours as cars flooded to their rooftops and homes filled with up to six feet of water.
“We lost family heirlooms, appliances, clothing,” said Natalia Lescano, who escaped with her family to a friend’s house on higher ground.
President Cristina Fernandez arrived by helicopter in Tolosa, a La Plata neighbourhood where she grew up and where her mother was among those evacuated.
She announced security measures to combat vandalism, help for identifying the dead, and three days of national mourning for the victims.
She was then was surrounded by her mother’s neighbours, in a rare uncontrolled encounter with everyday citizens. Some hugged and thanked her, but others complained angrily and shouted at her to “go away”.
The heaviest rain – almost 16 inches in just a few hours, beating historical records for the entire month of April – hit provincial La Plata overnight. A day earlier, the capital of Buenos Aires was hit hardest.
About four more inches of rain were expected before the bad weather passes today, the national weather service said.
At least 2,500 people were evacuated from their homes to about 20 centres in the La Plata area, which is about 37 miles from Argentina’s capital.
National Planning Minister Julio de Vido estimated that 280,000 people remained without power across the city and surrounding province of Buenos Aires, where most Argentines live.
“Our job is focused on restoring service, but we’re going to wait until the equipment dries to guarantee the safety of the electricity workers, because we don’t want any deaths,” he said.
The six people killed in Buenos Aires included a subway worker who was electrocuted and an elderly woman who drowned inside her home.
