Buenos Aires woke up with 360 trees uprooted, cars damaged, cables cut, public lighting poles down, as well as traffic lights, resulting in many traffic problems.
A severe storm, with heavy rain and winds of up to 150 kilometers per hour, killed at least sixteen people and caused damage to cities in central Argentina and Uruguay over the weekend, authorities said.
The worst disaster hit the city of BahÃa Blancaa port 600 kilometers southwest of Buenos Aires, where the storm caused the roof of an indoor stadium to collapse on Saturday, killing 13 people and injuring 14 others, according to municipal authorities.
The new president of Argentina, Javier Millay, who expressed his “most sincere condolences to the victims”, went to Bahia Blanca yesterday Sunday.
When such events occur “we, Argentinians, always manage to give our best,” demonstrating “our resilience and solidarity,” he said.
“I am absolutely convinced that you will be able to resolve this crisis in the best possible way with existing resources,” he added.
The mayor in BahÃa Blanca, where power was cut and widespread damage was reported due to winds that “exceeded 150 kilometers per hour,” according to authorities, yesterday urged residents to avoid the streets as “we remain in a state of emergency.”
The victims were watching a game of the Bahiense del Norte basketball team, with which world basketball star Manu Ginobili used to train.
The veteran champion declared “encapsulation of what my team, my city and my region are living”, via social networking sites.
In Moreno, 40 kilometers from Buenos Aires, woman died when she was hit by a tree branch that snapped and was blown away by a gust of wind, according to police sources.
The national meteorological service had declared an “orange” alert in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Entre Rios, Córdoba and Santa Fe (central east), expecting precipitation of up to 130 mm, a “yellow” alert in six other provinces, while predicting that storms would move towards north.
The winds were caused by “a large mass of warm and moist air that was activated by the passage of a cold front,” without any specific connection to the —ongoing— El Niño phenomenon, meteorologist Leo DeBenedictis explained.
Damages in the capital as well
Buenos Aires was hit on Sunday morning by winds of nearly 100 kilometers per hour, heavy rain and power outages, according to Mayor Jorge Macri.
The capital woke up with 360 trees uprooted, cars damaged, cables cut, public lighting poles down, as well as traffic lights, resulting in many traffic problems.
In the Palermo barrio, at least three people were injured while attending a concert when the stage collapsed, according to organizers.
Thirteen other people were injured at the Palermo racecourse, the emergency response service SAME said.
Other districts of the capital were also hit by the storm, with rainfall reaching 40mm in a few hours, in other words a third of the historical average for the whole of December, according to Argentina’s national meteorological service.
In Uruguay, at least two people died yesterday Sunday in the province of Colonia (southwest), where winds of 167 kilometers per hour and more uprooted trees and swept away roofs, according to the Uruguayan Meteorological Institute (INUMET).
An eight-year-old boy was killed at a camp in the spa town of Santa Regina. in Rio de la Plata, while a twenty-year-old man was killed while riding a motorcycle near Rosario.
Firefighters reported receiving more than 150 calls to respond to emergencies in Montevideo and the rest of the country.
Source :Skai
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