A
wind and sand storm forced the evacuation of the
Monte Hermoso
beach on Tuesday afternoon
.
The phenomenon did not cause injuries, but left
several damages
in numerous inns on the coast in the south of Buenos Aires.
Civil Defense and Firefighters also had to work at height to repair some balconies of the buildings on the waterfront, after the surprise mob.
After a warm morning with an overcast sky, there was nothing to predict that the weather conditions would change and hit one of the busiest seaside resorts on the Buenos Aires coast in such a way.
Until the early hours of the afternoon, the temperature was close to 28 degrees and the wind was blowing below 30 kilometers per hour, from the west and northwest sector.
In a short time, after turning south and southwest, in the early afternoon, the intensity of the wind exceeded 50 kilometers per hour, with
gusts around 70 kilometers per hour
.
Faced with the rotation and the sudden darkening, the lifeguards, shouting and signing, began to ask tourists to leave the beach as quickly as possible.
“The wind was terrible, terrible. Everything flew away”
, a tourist from Bahía Blanca told
Clarín
from one of the apartments located in the center facing the sea, where she managed to take refuge in time.
"We saw the signs of the lifeguards asking us to close the umbrellas and get off the beach," added the woman.
In the stampede, there were umbrellas that flew and others broke, although no serious injuries were reported.
The most serious damage occurred in a wide sector of the coastline, where there are several inns.
Many of them suffered from the blowing up of the tents, deck chairs and chairs, in addition to suffering damage to ramps and balconies.
One of the most affected was the ReCreo space that the government of the province of Buenos Aires installed, from the beginning of the season, in the heart of Montehermoseño.
Several of the games and attractions that occupied the arena ended up piled up on the wooden boardwalk, which in a few minutes was covered with sand.
The mob and its consequences forced the postponement of the artistic shows scheduled for this Tuesday afternoon at the Parador.
Already last weekend, another storm, although dominated by rain, had forced the postponement of musical numbers announced in the same place.
In the middle of the meteorological phenomenon, which did not dump rain on the coast, some people managed to take refuge in the most solid tents that resisted the onslaught of the wind.
While those in charge of the inns and the lifeguards began to collect the elements that the gusts lifted from the sand and prop up the weakest structures.
Later, personnel from the municipality of Monte Hermoso joined, who with vehicles and ambulances surveyed the panorama along the entire coastal promenade.
Volunteer firefighters also took care of propping up some railings on balconies of apartments located in front of the coast and that had been torn off by the force of the wind.
Right in the center of the resort, one block from the coast,
the wooden roof of a restaurant ended up splitting into several pieces on the sidewalk
.
By then, the beach had been deserted and the sea, with the southeast, advanced several meters towards the coast.
From the Sauce Grande area, about 5 kilometers from the center of Montehermosa, the journalist Néstor Machiavelli reflected what he had experienced.
"I have been facing this sea for many years and I don't remember having experienced such a tense and at times dramatic moment
," said the documentalist, who has lived for years in his native Coronel Dorrego, some 30 kilometers from Monte Hermoso, where the temporary.
"I spent about half an hour lying on top of the umbrellas and lounge chairs to prevent them from blowing away, until a couple who approached from afar as best they could and between the three of us managed to carry the objects to the side of the nearby hostel. There I waited for family reinforcements After a while they arrived and we were able to return home," Macchiavelli commented on social networks.
Strong storms with wind and rain were also recorded in nearby resorts, such as Claromecó, Reta and Necochea, among others.
DB
look also
Landslide in Bariloche: why tourists did not find out about the alert before going for a walk
Tuesday of intense heat and humidity: the weather forecast for Tuesday, January 24
