Thursday, 4 April 2013

Freak rain brings Argentina floods


In the UK, we have just had the coldest March in more than 50 years.  In Argentina, they are mourning their dead after the heaviest rainstorm in a century hit Buenos Aires and La Plata.

At least 48 people were killed by flooding in La Plata, where the provincial governor said the city had ‘never seen anything like it’, and half a dozen more in the capital.   More bodies are still being found.

Thousands of people have had to be moved from their homes, including the mother of the president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, while many others are sheltering on roofs or in trees.  In some places, people blocked roads to demand more help from the authorities.

These were probably the worst floods in Argentina since the city of Santa Fe was inundated in 2003 after heavy rain made river levels rise by six feet in just three hours.   More than 150 people died, and 100,000 had to be evacuated.

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