Flooding kills at least 46 people in Argentina

[NBCNews]

  Jorge Luperne/ReutersResidents stand next to debris of their ruined home after heavy rains flooded a large part of the city, in La Plata on April 3.By ReutersFlash floods killed at least 46 people and forced about 1,500 residents  to evacuate the Argentine city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires  province, government officials said on Wednesday.

Some people  drowned after being trapped in their cars or while walking along city  streets when the water rose suddenly on Tuesday night, while others were  electrocuted, provincial governor Daniel Scioli told reporters.

The same storm killed at least five people in Buenos Aires, which lies about 36 miles northwest of La Plata.

"Families  and small children spent the night on their roofs, getting wet. People  in wheelchairs were up to their waists in water all night. It was a  disaster," Bruno Zorzit, a resident of La Plata, told Reuters  Television.

Local media said between 12  to 16 inches of rain fell in just two hours, flooding low-lying  neighborhoods in La Plata and surrounding areas.

President  Cristina Fernandez, who grew up near La Plata, visited the  flood zone  and promised to send more police to calm people's fears that  evacuated  homes could be looted.

 Natacha Pisarenko / APA couple looks at their flooded street from behind their home's window in La Plata, in Argentina's Buenos Aires province, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

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