A strong storm hit the town of Villa Mercedes in saint Louis. But beyond the rain, the phenomenon recorded the fall of large hail, which caused power outages, broken windows and even some injuries, according to local media. The area is currently under orange alert.
The storm coincided with the celebration of the first day of the festival of the narrow streeta, which had been attended by approximately 7,000 people. For that same reason, the local authorities were present at the scene to assist the victims in the midst of the storm.
The clock marked 10:40 p.m. when the strong phenomenon caused some spectators to suffer blows. There were even people who vanished on property in the area and were attended by volunteer firefighters from El Fortín and Civil Defense, according to the local media. The Journal of the Republic.
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According to the firefighters, many of the people who were injured had to be transferred to different health centers, especially the “Juan Domingo Perón” Regional Polyclinic, due to cuts in the head area.
As a consequence of the storm, the windows of the houses and buildings in the area were also affected, as well as the vehicles that remained parked in the vicinity of the place. The violence of the event is related to the size and shape of the hail, which, far from resembling a smooth ball, might have ‘spikes’.
“Fire personnel, 35 people, attended the festival site collaborating with municipal civil defense people to evacuate people. Lots of damage to homes and vehicles due to glass breakage, a single roof blast but no people were injured,” said Gabriel Giménez, Villa Mercedes fire commander.
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Regarding the seriousness of the situation and the injuries of the people, the professional explained: “It was not that much water but it was a large amount of hail. It is a city with more than 130,000 inhabitants. We have not quantified how many people were injured, a national festival was taking place and there was a large audience, there were people who received help to mobilize but there is no record of injured people.
As Giménez explains, it was decided to cut off the power as a precautionary measure in this situation. “At that time a global evaluation was made, a total power cut was requested in the city due to the large number of cables and people who were circulating through the streets as a result of the festival. In addition, because we were observing the entry of a new storm front,” said the commander in dialogue with All News.
Along the same lines, a neighbor of the place, Florencia Ortiz, who received a strong impact from the stones, recounted in the same medium how she experienced the situation: “I was at my home near where the festival was being held and out of nowhere we began to feel There were noises and they were stones. I went out to open the garage so we might get in the car and I felt a stone hit my back and another on my head. They saw that my head was bleeding and we went to the hospital. The car was destroyed even though it was under the roof. Many people injured, many people dead. It was horrible, there were a lot of people in the hospital.”
In turn, the young woman also detailed the versions that reported the serious consequences of the storm: “I was in the guard waiting to be attended to and people from Calle Angosta came and commented that there were people dead in the place.”
In this way, following the suspension of the first night of the 34th Narrow Street National Festival, the authorities will analyze how to continue. In addition, according to local media, not only will the damage to the property be assessed, but the streets will also be traveled to check if the population needs assistance.
According to the professionals, this phenomenon was generated by the contrast between humid and hot air below and cold and dry air above. A situation that favored the violent rise of air.
As a result of the situation, the orange alert was extended to the southeast of La Rioja, the west of Córdoba and the northeast of San Luis. For their part, the authorities request that people remain in their homes and protect themselves from the storm.
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