Heavy flooding: Situation critical, at least twelve dead

By Philipp Znidar

Bahía Blanca (Argentina) - At least twelve people have died in severe flooding in the Argentinian city of Bahía Blanca.

Seven have already been identified, several media outlets reported, citing the security minister of the province of Buenos Aires, Javier Alonso.

The situation was "absolutely critical" and the city had been "destroyed", said Security Minister Patricia Bullrich in a radio interview.

Although the water had receded overall, many parts of the city were still flooded. According to the minister, 1,200 people were evacuated.

It was not possible to say how many people were missing as many residents were cut off from communication because there was no electricity to charge cell phones.

A severe storm hit the city of around 330,000 inhabitants in the south of the province of Buenos Aires on the Atlantic coast on Friday.

According to the weather service, 210 millimetres of precipitation per square meter were measured in Bahía Blanca within 24 hours - that is around a third of the average amount of rainfall per year.

Bahía Blanca was almost completely flooded as a result. Roads and houses were flooded, hospitals were evacuated and dozens of families sought shelter in emergency shelters. Public transport was suspended and the airport was closed.

The government sent police officers and soldiers to help with the rescue work and approved aid amounting to 10 billion pesos (around 8.6 million euros at the official exchange rate) to repair the damage.