Extreme cold in Santa Cruz: Frozen rivers, workers trapped in snow and temperatures as low as 25 degrees below zero

The crooked Santa Cruz river has frozen over. The aerial image, which went viral on social networks, portrays the conditions under which a large part of the human and animal population of Argentine Patagonia, where they were recorded, perished. Temperature down to -25 °CSo the army works to rescue people stranded in the snow and bring food for families and animals.

The National Weather Service issued an alarm “Red level” for the mountainous region of that province, which implies a “High to extreme health effects” because of the cold and the conditions “Very dangerous” It “can affect all people, even healthy people.”

Intense snowstorms on Route 3 over the past few hours left many vehicles stranded and at least 300 people stuck inside their cars in temperatures as low as -25 degrees Celsius. They were rescued by the army, which used M113 armoured personnel carriers to clear a layer of snow more than a metre high on routes and access roads to fields.

Like the sea in Tierra del Fuego, Patagonian rivers seem “still” with a layer of snow forming on the surface. The entire area is surrounded by the famous “white winds” that prevent the roads from being visible. In recent weeks, the Argentine Army has deployed about 100 agents and 22 mobile phones to carry out search, rescue and evacuation operations of people and stranded cars and trucks. Although on Friday the minimum temperature was -10 °C, there were also some days with -30 °C. Authorities believe it is the worst storm in the last 60 years. This Saturday, in El Calafate for example, temperatures reached -11 °C in the morning.

For example, three young people have been stranded on a farm for weeks. Two Lagoonswhere the Berini salt mine operates, is 198 kilometers from Rio Gallegos, the capital of Santa Cruz. The blizzard prevented those who work to collect the salt from going out. Access to the area, located 60 kilometers from Route 3, was impossible even for the national road machines, which had to face “walls of snow”.

andres mirandaThe father of one of the young men spoke to local radio stations so that his message could reach the salt mine, where they listen to the radio, and give them peace of mind. “I thank everyone who cooperated, they did everything humanly possible to open the way to reach there, but there was a metre and a half, almost two metres and Doing it from the ground is getting more complicated“, he explained on the radio LU12 AM680and explained that the plan was to take them out by helicopter, “For the boys, Be patient. A big thank you to those who did everything possible so that we could look for them,” the man excitedly commented, as he added, ”I have a son there and he has been there for three weeks.

“As a father it’s a little complicated.”

Santa Cruz police also issued a Maximum Alert for the disappearance of Daniel Humberto RiosThe 58-year-old truck driver, who has been missing since the morning of July 4, was reported by his daughter at 9:30 pm on July 5 28 November Police Station, Rivers came out on July 3rd Muddy River bound for Rioja. he was driving renault 440 white truckpatent IHE-375, a semi with blue canvas, patent EUV-097. The last time he spoke to his family was at 3:53 am on July 4. He told them he was in Comodoro Rivadavia due to the road being closed but no more has been heard from them since. The case is being investigated by the Investigations and Narcocriminality Division of the Coal Basin and the Criminal Secretariat of the Juvenile Investigations and Criminal Court of Río Turbio.

This Saturday, extreme cold was recorded in Gobernador Gregores, province of Santa Cruz. 12.4 degrees below zero. In Río Gallegos, the thermal sensation reached -10.4 degrees Celsius and at least two fires were recorded in homes in popular neighborhoods, possibly as a result of poor heating.

As noted in the National Meteorological Service, the limitations of determining the occurrence of a Cold event with extreme temperatures They are established based on the 10th percentile (P10) for both maximum and minimum temperatures. “These values ​​can also be understood as the temperature below which a person is within 10% of the lowest temperature recorded at that location (period 1961-2010). Below these limits, the temperature is considered extreme and caution should be taken,” he elaborated.

The Argentine Army works to guarantee traffic safety throughout the province, maintain links between the populations and ensure the supply of the main communities, as well as the relocation of oil field workers affected by the snow accumulation and the distribution of food for animals in isolated areas.

The troops were based at the Tapi Aike farm to help snow-bound rural producers with logistics. The armored vehicles come from the 35th Mechanized Infantry Regiment, Colonel Manuel Dorrego, and the 11th Armored Cavalry Exploration Squadron, Colonel Juan Pascual Pringles, based in the town of Rospentec, in the country’s southernmost military garrison.

The polar wave continues with heavy snowfall in Santa Cruz. The storm has already caused serious consequences and the situation of the local fauna is worrying. For example, the province’s Council of Agriculture estimated that more than 1,000,000 sheep and over 40,000 cows are at risk.