Soledad Castillo looks out the window of Club Estrella, at 375 Coronel Falcón, a street far from the center of Bahía Blanca where she has lived for a day. On Saturday in that city, a storm claimed the lives of 13 people and left 14 others hospitalized after one of the walls of the Bahiense del Norte Club, the same one where Manu Ginobili was born, fell in the middle of a skating event. But the tragedy not only killed, but also destroyed houses in the outlying neighborhoods of Bahía Blanca.
One of those who lost everything was Soledad, who now stops looking out the window of the evacuation center's basketball court to breastfeed her youngest daughter, Mikeyla. As he does so, he remembers what happened two nights ago in his neighborhood, San Jorge.
"We were drinking mate, it was seven o'clock in the evening. And suddenly, it started raining. A lot of water started to get inside the house. That's when Juan, my husband, started drawing water outside. I wanted to get the water out as best I could. And when the wind picked up, with great force, the only thing I could tell him was to go inside. My girls were taking a nap when this happened," the woman recalled in an interview with Clarín.
Soledad gets a lump in her throat when she describes what happened next: "I went to the room to see the girls, and as the wind was very strong, the only thing I could think of at the time was to tell them to get out of the window, I wanted to prevent them from hurting themselves. And I moved them to the other bed."
"At that moment the wind picked up more intensely. My husband came back and said, 'Sit on the floor, let's sit on the floor together.' When we sat down on the floor, my other older girl woke up scared, she didn't understand anything, she sat down. Right there, we all got together and saw how the roof came off, clean, everything, the whole house," he says.
Juan, as best he could, tucked his three daughters under the bed. As Soledad recalls, he never took refuge and always made it a priority to save them and be able to get at least some things out of the house.
Soledad Castillo and her daughter Mikeyla, evacuated by the furious storm in Bahía Blanca. Photo: Fernando de la Orden / Special Envoy
"It wasn't safe to be inside the house anymore either, because the trees were breaking. Thank God it didn't fall into the room where we were, it fell to the other side. And with all the wind, as it was, we had to get out of the house and get inside the car, a car that doesn't work. I got in there with the girls while my brother-in-law who lives two blocks away came to help my husband who was in and out trying to save something," she adds.
Juan and his brother took out the two youngest girls, Mikeyla (3) and Martina (7), first, while the oldest, Valentina (9), stayed with her mom in the car. They left only when the storm subsided. The sequence, says Soledad, lasted about twenty minutes.
That night was spent at Juan's mother's house, but on Sunday morning they returned to their home. The anguish was terrible to find it completely destroyed, without a roof, with walls at risk of falling. It was not until Sunday afternoon that they arrived at the shelter.
Photo: Fernando de la Orden / Special Envoy to Bahía Blanca. Castillo family testimony evacuated. The Star Club became one of the refugee centers after Saturday's storm left many people homeless. 18-12-2023 - FTP CLARIN _FER7705.JPG Z DelaOrden
The sadness of the girls is what hurts Soledad and Juan the most, who try to distract them with games at the Club Estrella, where they are receiving between 20 to 30 people a night to sleep and as many to receive daily meals or clothes from donations.
"My daughters were desperate because they lost everything. Everything, they lost all their little things. My middle daughter told me, 'My stuff got wet and I'm not going to be able to go to school, Mom.' It's okay. There's not going to be any classes, either. More than obvious. But it was a very sad moment. Even though you're big, and you can bear it all, seeing kids cry and seeing them lose everything is very hard," he concludes.
"I didn't have anything. I couldn't find my children."
Melanie Mellado, unlike Soledad, doesn't have a partner, she separated a year ago. She is alone with her three children on the basketball court. On top of the mattresses received from donations, the children play. Off to the side, she rocks her little Aitana (1).
The Star Club became one of the refugee centers after Saturday's storm left many people homeless. Photo: Fernando de la Orden / Special Envoy
They also lost everything in the Tierras Argentinas neighborhood. At the time of the storm, Melanie was in church and it was her sister who was taking care of their children. She was the one who pulled them out just before the tin roof fell on them.
"They wouldn't let me leave the church. I went back early in the morning. When I got home, my whole chest felt popping out. I had nothing. I didn't find my children. I didn't find my sister, my mom, any of them. I was gripped by an astonishing desperation until I weighed on the neighbors to ask where they were and they just sheltered them at night. When the storm stopped a bit, they were able to shelter them," Melanie recalls.
Melanie Mellado and her children. Photo: Fernando de la Orden / Special Envoy
"They had to get out of there. Most of my things were stolen. They stole my TV, a speaker that they gave my baby for his birthday. When they left, they robbed us. They stole everything from us," she says.
On Sunday evening, Melanie and her three children – Noah (5), Aitán (3) and Aitana – arrived at the shelter. She says they were received very well, they helped them: "I just hope next year will be better, because this one sucked. I'm completely alone, with them, and it's the first time I've experienced something like this. We lost everything."
Daniel, a rescuer who is actively working to help the victims of the storm together with Civil Defense, explains to Clarín that both the Club Estrella and the Club Olimpo (Ángel Brunel 11) are now still in operation. Evacuees and refugees from the Dow Center (M. Rodriguez 4895) will move to one of these two spaces because "it has about four or five people right now."
Photo: Fernando de la Orden / Special Envoy to Bahía Blanca. The Star Club became one of the refugee centers after Saturday's storm left many people homeless.18-12-2023 - FTP CLARIN _FER7815.JPG Z DelaOrden
In fact, the Municipality of Bahía Blanca confirmed this afternoon that the number of evacuees showed "a notable decrease, of 61 people in the total of the three centers made available." The three centers mentioned.
The lifeguard indicates that the people or families who arrive at Club Estrella are from neighborhoods such as Loma Paraguaya, Villa Delfina and Villa Rosa.
The state of the situation in Bahía Blanca after the storm
Information about the injured and the general situation that the town is going through after the damage left by the storm, is admissible by a Crisis Committee managed by the Municipality of Bahía Blanca.
This morning, Mayor Federico Susbielles said at a conference: "The emergency stage has passed, we are in search of normality."
Photo: Fernando de la Orden / Special Envoy to Bahía Blanca. Plaza Brown one of the most affected city with cebtenary trees fallen by the storm yesterday17-12-2023 - FTP CLARIN _FER7610.JPG Z DelaOrden
In his statements, the mayor referred to one of the situations of concern that is experienced in the streets of Bahia: there are long lines of people at gas stations, for fear of fuel shortages.
"Yesterday afternoon we had a meeting with the Chamber of Stationers about this situation that we are perceiving, first of all to tell the citizens that the fuel forecast is absolutely guaranteed, all service stations and distributors have full availability, full tanks," he said.
And he added: "We have a State and citizens that are up to the task, we are not overwhelmed, no family in Bahía Blanca is not going to have the municipal State present, we are not going to neglect any type of social or food situation, we are going to rebuild every roof that was blown off and we are going to generate a mechanism that allows Bahía Blanca to rebuild itself in the shortest possible time."
The municipality clarified that, as for the injured in the Municipal Hospital, four people are still in the intensive care unit, three of them with a reserved prognosis and respiratory assistance. The remainder is stable with the assistance of a ventilator. Two patients in pediatrics have already been discharged, and a woman in a short stay has also been discharged.
The Star Club became one of the shelters after Saturday's storm left many people homeless. Photo: Fernando de la Orden / Special Envoy to Bahía Blanca.
"We remind you that during the day the public transport service will remain suspended. Waste collection service will also not be provided, so neighbors are requested not to take out the garbage bags until further notice," they added in their part.
The administrative holiday for the fatal victims of the climate catastrophe was declared on Monday by the mayor and will last 72 hours. An administrative holiday was ordered for 24 hours throughout the Municipality of Bahía Blanca, with the exception of essential services. There will be no administrative attention in the municipal offices.
Photo: Fernando de la Orden / Special Envoy to Bahía Blanca. Plaza Rivadavia, the main city. With trees downed by the storm yesterday17-12-2023 - FTP CLARIN _FER7581.JPG Z DelaOrden
Likewise, Susbielles invited the commercial, business, industrial and financial sectors to adhere to the cessation of activities ordered. It also declared a health, food, social, environmental, housing, infrastructure, administrative, economic and public services emergency as long as the effects of the storm persist.
Regarding the recovery of the electricity service, the municipality clarified that the Edes company has already restored 35% and confirmed the recovery of the energy and oxygen service in all the city's hospitals.
Photo: Fernando de la Orden / Special Envoy to Bahía Blanca. Damage to the Hockey field of the Federal Shooting Club due to the storm yesterday17-12-2023 - FTP CLARIN _FER7646.JPG Z DelaOrden
Manu Ginobili, idol of the national sport, former basketball player and Bahian, released a recent video in which he shared information about donation points with bank transfers to collaborate with the tragedy that occurred at the Bahiense del Norte Club, which is presided over by his brother, Leandro.
Bahía Blanca. Special Envoy
MG