Although rains were forecast close to 100 millimeters, no one imagined in Villa Gesell that by noon the city would be collapsed by a deluge and strong winds of 50 kilometers per hour. As if the strict quarantine applied by the town during the winter (with curfews at 3:00 p.m.) and a season with restrictions and the fear of new sanitary measures due to the accumulation of tourists were not enough, now this is added temporal that left the Villa submerged under water.
The consequences were numerous, although happily victimless for the moment. The most notable was seen in the streets, mainly on Avenida 3 (the main artery) but especially on those that flow into the sea, turned into raging waterways that blocked cars and they even dragged one to the beach itself at the height of promenade 136. The record of millimeters of water fallen ended up being 130, 30 percent more than predicted.
The water also quickly entered the premises, which forced the merchants to act desperately not to lose the merchandise after almost a year of inactivity and a season that, at least in Gesell, does not finish starting. Meanwhile, the rain and wind flooded several neighborhoods and interrupted electricity, running water and telephone services.
The Volunteer Fire Department performed at least 30 services for contingencies, most of them the result of tree falls and flooding. Meanwhile, Civil Defense recommends residents and tourists not to leave their homes until the water drains.
The surprising thing about all this is that, just as the downpour fell unexpectedly, after 2 pm the rain stopped and the sun even came out. This pause allowed the different organizations to carry out work to repair the damages caused, some of them of magnitude.
Anyway, the fear persists because the sky darkens again and what happened in the morning is repeated. These types of meteorological episodes are common on the Atlantic Coast during the summer, but in Gesell they occur with unusual violence, becoming almost a classic that everyone fears due to the consequences it generates and the strong recovery work that it demands.