Twenty-four hours of heavy rainfall and flooding has forced the evacuation of more than 2,200 people across Buenos Aires Province, authorities said Saturday.
An additional 1,500 residents have left their homes voluntarily.
Authorities warned that severe rainfall would continue throughout the rest of today and into the early hours of Sunday morning.
National and provincial government officials have launched search-and-rescue missions in flooded areas, with emergency shelter sought for those who have fled their homes.
The storm, which began Friday, is mainly affecting the northern part of the province, as well as Buenos Aires City and its surrounding metropolitan area, home to some 15 million people.
The latest bulletin from the Buenos Aires Province government, issued early Saturday morning, reported evacuations in at least 11 areas.
Some of the hardest-hit areas are Campana and Zárate, located 80 to 90 kilometres north of the capital, where rainfall has been slamming terrain almost non-stop since Friday morning.
Hundreds have been forced to leave their homes and seek shelter.
“It’s been raining heavily since 11am yesterday,” Zárate Mayor Marcelo Matzkin told the TN news channel on Saturday morning. He said rainfall had exceeded 400 millimetres – well above the seasonal average for the region.
In Zárate, around 200 people were taken to sports clubs and community centres as emergency shelters were established. Mayor Matzkin said he expected many more to be relocated throughout the day.
Campana, San Antonio de Areco and parts of Exaltación de la Cruz faced widespread flooding and storm damage. Images circulating online showed streets turned into rivers and cars almost completely submerged.
Bus drama
Overflowing rivers and streams have put “large volumes of water on the road surface” along at least seven routes and roads, the provincial government reported in a statement.
Several major roads and motorways were partially closed, including Ruta Nacional 9 – one of Argentina’s most important highways – which connects the capital to the Bolivian border and runs straight through Zárate and Campana.
Several lorries and at least two buses were stranded. Passengers on one vehicle had to wait through the night for assistance, spending nine hours locked inside.
“We’re under a terrible volume of water, with 44 passengers on board,” Daniel, the driver of a bus that became stuck at around midnight, told TN in a live interview.
“There are 10 centimetres of water inside the vehicle... it’s a sea,” he said, audibly frustrated.
After more than 12 hours of anxiety, firefighters rescued all 45 people – 44 passengers and the driver – using inflatable boats and jet skis. Everyone was unharmed.
The bus, which had departed from Rosario, became trapped in a low-visibility stretch of flooded highway between Zárate and Lima, near kilometre 115 of Ruta 9. On board were adults, elderly passengers, a baby and a small child.
“The road was completely submerged. There were children, a baby... the situation was very critical,” Daniel said.
He added that the passengers had received no warning before entering the affected area. “We tried to keep going but ran into parked lorries. No-one told us the road was impassable. We left Rosario without knowing we’d end up stranded.”
Emergency response
The national government and the Buenos Aires Province administration activated a joint emergency response to assist the hardest-hit districts.
Security Minister Patricia Bullrich and Defence Minister Luis Petri travelled to Zárate and Campana to oversee operations on the ground and assess the situation.
On Saturday, Bullrich confirmed the closure of the Zárate–Brazo Largo bridge and said officials were working to shut off access to Ruta 9 to allow the removal of stranded vehicles.
“We’re working to prevent any vehicle from entering Ruta 9, from any direction. We need the road clear so stranded trucks and buses can start moving again,” she said from Zárate.
Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof began monitoring the situation with a crisis committee on Friday. He said he was working with Bullrich to “align and coordinate the deployment with local municipalities.”
More rain expected
According to experts at the National Meteorological Service office, rainfall will remain intense throughout Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday morning.
An orange weather alert remains in place for parts of northern Buenos Aires Province, with a yellow alert issued for the capital. Authorities are urging residents to avoid travel and follow official updates.
The torrential rains have arrived just two and a half months after tragic flooding on March 7 hit Bahía Blanca, 600 kilometres south of Buenos Aires. Eighteen people died and material damage was estimated at US$400 million.
In Buenos Aires City, nearly 160 millimetres of rain fell in just 35 hours — almost double the monthly average of 90 millimetres for May.
The weather service said the speed and intensity of the storm ranked among the highest in decades.
A slight improvement is forecast from Sunday onwards, just in time for midterm elections in Buenos Aires City.
– TIMES/AFP/PERFIL
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