One dead, injured and wrecked cars in San Luis; tree falls and power cuts in Mendoza and San Juan; and delays and diversions at the Ezeiza and Aeroparque airports were consequences of the storm that hit the central region of the country, while meteorological alerts for intense storms persist for eight provinces, which rise to orange level in Córdoba and Santa Fe.
The storm that fell since last night had a special impact on the city of Villa Mercedes, 100 kilometers from the city of San Luis, where it caused the death of a 70-year-old man from heart failure on the property where the 34th Fiesta was taking place. National Narrow Street, informed the provincial government.
In addition, several people were injured and numerous cars were seriously damaged as a result of the rains with hail the size of a ping pong ball.
Blows, cuts to the head and hands, fainting, broken glass and body dents were the balance of the storm that affected 80 percent of the vehicles and people gathered around one of the most important festivals in the province.
“The storm has hit the city completely, it looks like a war zone because of how it has been left. It seems that public buildings have received a bombardment,” said the Secretary of Government of Villa Mercedes, Germán Sepúlveda, in statements to television channels.
The strong storms were also felt intensely last night in various towns in western Mendoza, where they caused the fall of trees, power outages and damage to the roofs of numerous homes.
In San Martin, Maipú, Luján de Cuyo, Rivadavia and Guaymallén, a total of “30 novelties were registered, between falling trees and roof leaks,” they indicated from the provincial Civil Defense.
In the same region of Cuyo, San Juan was another of the affected provinces and there some 17,593 families were left without electricity after the rain, according to a report by the Provincial Electricity Regulatory Entity (EPRE).
In turn, two trucks were buried in the streets of neighborhoods in the Rawson department as a result of the heavy rains that hit the province at dawn.
Meanwhile, in the early hours of this Friday, intense storms developed in the central region of the country accompanied by abundant rains, very intense gusts, local hail and strong electrical activity, according to the National Meteorological Service (SMN).
In the last report at 1:40 p.m., the agency updated the orange alerts for strong and severe storms for the north of the province of Córdoba and the center of Santa Fe, which implies “dangerous meteorological phenomena for society, life, goods and the environment.
For the orange level it is recommended to stay in closed constructions such as houses, schools or buildings; stay away from electrical appliances; avoid the use of wired phones; avoid driving through flooded streets; and cut off the power supply if there is a risk of water entering the house.
Meanwhile, a yellow alert is in force for less intense storms for a large part of the province of Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Córdoba, the entire territory of Santiago del Estero and Tucumán, the center of Salta, the center and south of Catamarca, and the east of La Rioja.
In the morning, air services at the Ezeiza international airport and the Jorge Newbery Airport were also affected by the strong storm that struck a large part of the city of Buenos Aires and the Buenos Aires suburbs, airport sources informed Télam.
Although the impact was not significant, at least three flights had to be diverted due to the intensity of the storm and as many suffered delays of between an hour and an hour and a half in departures, although the situation was normalized by mid-morning.
Meanwhile, in the province of Buenos Aires, the municipality of La Plata raised the Risk Attention Level to “yellow” due to strong storms and rains of varying intensity, some with gusts of wind and intense short-term showers, for which it had prevention tasks and monitoring of weather conditions.
Faced with this forecast, citizens were recommended to clean and check the pipes and drains, avoid driving on public roads and remain in a safe place during the storm.
During the morning, the storms continued their advance in the central provinces, while in the city of Buenos Aires the rainfall decreased in intensity, indicated the SMN, adding that in the next few hours the phenomena may affect the center of the coast and the Argentine Northwest more. .
Some of the cities in the country with maximum accumulated precipitation values up to 9 o’clock were Laboulaye with 65 millimeters; Villa Reynolds with 63; July 9 with 38; One-Eyed Deer with 35; San Juan with 34; Rio Cuarto with 32; Las Flores with 29 and the City of Buenos Aires with 26, according to what was published by the SMN.
The storms registered this Friday constitute the most regionalized rain since the beginning of spring, covering the entire agricultural core area of the country, according to the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA).
For the next few days, the rains are expected to continue their course and INTA expects that the probabilities of events in the core zone will continue.
