The storm surprised the residents of Villa Mercedes. They were transferred to different hospitals in the city.
Several injured, completely destroyed cars and a suspended festival. Those were some of the consequences that a strong storm with hail the size of tennis balls that hit the city of Villa Mercedesin saint Louis.
The chaos began minutes before 11:00 p.m. The rain, the wind and the ice stones surprised the residents of the town, especially those who were enjoying the 34th Narrow Street National Festival and who ran desperately in search of refuge. .
On its first night, the festival had to be cancelled. Many of the people who were on the property received severe blows from the hail. The most serious, with mainly head injurieshad to be attended by volunteer firefighters from El Fortín and by Civil Defense personnel.
Vehicles parked in the area were also affected. According to local media, about 80 percent of the cars ended up with some glass broken or completely broken, as well as dents in the bodywork.
The affected neighbors began to spread photos and videos of the ice balls, surprised by their size. In the images they showed that the stones were not smooth, but had a kind of spikes.
Its particular characteristics made the hail more dangerous and harmful. Many of the injured were transferred to different health centers, especially the Juan Domingo Perón Regional Polyclinic.
The storm also caused power outages in various areas of the city, as well as flooded streets and downed trees.
The Municipality reported that the storm has finished passing through the city. For this reason, members of Urban Control, Civil Defense, Firefighters and the traffic team walk the streets to assess the damage and assist the victims.
In addition, they recommended that the population not leave their homes and avoid circulating on the streets until dawn.
Alert for strong storms and extreme heat for Buenos Aires and ten other provinces
The National Meteorological Service (SMN) issued in the last hours yellow alerts for storms for sectors of the provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Córdoba, San Luis, Mendoza and San Juan, and another for winds for the entire territory of Tierra del Fuego.
Also governs a warning for extreme temperatures due to heat for locations in Misiones, Corrientes, Formosa, Chaco, Salta and Buenos Aires.
In the center of the country, the areas affected by storms of varying intensity, some of which may be locally strong, are the south of Córdoba, the north of La Pampa and almost all of the province of San Luis.
In these areas, accumulated precipitation values between 20 and 45 mm are expected, which may be exceeded in a timely manner, as predicted by the SMN.
The yellow level also extends to the east of San Juan, to the Northeast of Mendoza and to a large part of the center of the Province of Buenos Aires, in localities such as Azul, Rauch, Tapalqué, the lower area of Benito Juárez, Tandil, Bolívar and Pehuajó.
According to the SMN, the areas will be affected by storms that will be accompanied by intense gusts, occasional hail fallstrong electrical activity and abundant waterfall in short periods.
