After eight hours of uninterrupted rain, large parts of the port city of Bahía Blanca were flooded. In just a few hours, more than 400 millimeters of rain fell – equivalent to a normal annual amount – in the coastal area, about 60 miles south of Buenos Aires.
On TV footage, medical staff are seen evacuating infants from the José Penna hospital, where the army has been deployed to assist in rescue efforts.
Authorities are warning that the death toll may rise. Around 1,300 people have been evacuated and parts of the power grid have been shut down to minimize the risk of electric shocks.
The largest storm in Bahía Blanca was in 1930, with 175 millimeters of rain. This one is almost three times larger, says Javier Alonso, security minister for the Buenos Aires province.
Bahía Blanca resident Flavia Viera Romero rescued her children from the floodwaters.
About one and a half meters of water flooded into my house, she tells TV channel LN+.
