Intense rainstorms triggered an orange alert for storms and flooding across the Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires (AMBA) on Thursday [8].
The severe weather disrupted critical infrastructure and transportation, overwhelming drainage systems and leaving thousands of residents without power in the city and its suburbs.
Authorities issued an orange alert for storms and a yellow alert for winds [8, 9]. The precipitation caused significant flooding, including at the General Paz highway [2]. Rainfall accumulation reports varied, with some records indicating about 90 mm [6], while other reports cited more than 110 mm [7].
The power grid suffered extensive damage as a result of the weather. By 10:30 a.m., reports indicated nearly 10,000 users were without electricity [1]. Other data from utility companies Edesur and Edenor showed a combined total of 7,817 users without power, consisting of 6,879 Edesur customers and 938 Edenor customers [2, 3, 4].
Later reports suggested the impact was far more widespread. One report said that more than 70,000 users were without electricity during a particularly severe period of the storm [5].
The outages affected various neighborhoods across the AMBA, including the City of Buenos Aires (CABA) [1, 2]. Utility crews worked to restore service as the region continued to deal with the aftermath of the heavy precipitation [1].
“Intense rainstorms triggered an orange alert for storms and flooding across the Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires.”
The discrepancy in reported outage numbers—ranging from approximately 7,800 to over 70,000 users—highlights the volatile nature of the storm's impact and the difficulty of real-time tracking during infrastructure failure. The event underscores the vulnerability of the AMBA power grid to extreme weather events, where high rainfall volumes quickly exceed the capacity of urban drainage and electrical safeguards.
