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What happened, where and when?
During the week of 11 December 2023 the National Meteorological Service (SMN) of the Argentine Republic has issued multiple weather warnings due to the atmospheric instability prevailing in several regions of the country. In addition, on 15 and 16 December, Short-Term Warnings (ACP) were issued due to the possibility of strong or severe storms, especially in the Province of Buenos Aires. Likewise, the alert level had been raised to "orange" in the Early Warning System of the SMN. These warnings were complemented by forecasts from private or civil society organizations and local agencies, anticipating a storm of great magnitude in several points of the area with strong wind gusts of between 120 and 150 kilometers per hour depending on the region.
On 16 December after 8:00 p.m., the effects caused by a surface low pressure front (F1 on the Fujita scale) began to materialize in the southern localities with a tendency towards the northeast of the province. The impact of the storm became effective in several cities of the region as gusts in some cases exceeded 140 kilometers per hour, with accumulations of rainfall exceeding 100 millimeters.
As of 8:30 p.m., the first effects were identified in the city of Bahía Blanca, south of the Province of Buenos Aires, where gusts of over 140 kilometers per hour not only affected access to services such as electricity and water, but also had an impact on urban infrastructure and homes. As a result, the Club Bahiense del Norte building collapsed and 13 people lost their lives, including a 4-year-old girl, and more than 20 were injured. The damage to the infrastructure of homes has been considerable, mainly in neighborhoods far from the central area of the city, with roofs blown off, falling masonry and walls, among others. Hundreds of electric power poles and old trees have fallen as a result of the intense winds, making it difficult to restore electric power and therefore delaying access to water in many communities, as well as delaying early recovery tasks, generating difficulties in accessing the most exposed communities. The same storm has affected, to a lesser extent, localities near this city such as Médanos, Punta Alta, among others. At the closing of the presentation of this Action Plan, the impact assessment tasks continue, a work that is being carried out jointly by different agencies and organizations, centralized in an emergency operations center that operates in the Municipality of Bahía Blanca.
During the same period, Necochea, in the southeast of the Province, faced winds exceeding 80 kilometers per hour and heavy rains. These events caused flooding in more than 60 houses, damage to roofs and infrastructure in vulnerable areas, along with downed electric poles and trees, requiring state and community intervention. The storm also affected other localities in the region to a lesser extent. Subsequently, in the early morning of 17 December, the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires suffered impacts, mainly in Chivilcoy, Chacabuco, Campana, Zárate, San Fernando, Vicente López, Avellaneda, Quilmes, La Plata and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. In Quilmes, there was a partial collapse of the Club Juventud de Bernal, roofs were blown off, houses were affected by fallen trees and evacuation centers were set up in different neighborhoods of the city.
On 18 December, the National Meteorological Service issued new warnings for storms of varying intensity which, after settling in the area, prevented work related to the reestablishment of basic services and hindered some situations in homes that had already been affected by the storm; The Naval Hydrographic Service (SHN) of the Argentine Republic issued an alert for the flooding of the Río de la Plata, which subsequently became effective, exceeding levels that had not been recorded since 1989 in some cases, affecting cities that had already suffered the impact of the prevailing storm in the region, mainly communities near La Plata, Berisso, Ensenada, San Fernando, Quilmes and Avellaneda.
At the closing of this Action Plan, new storm warnings with intense winds were issued for the next few days, which could aggravate the situation.
As a consequence of the above, on 18 December the Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires decreed a State of Emergency for 30 days for the entire territory of the Province, which was made official in the Official Gazette.