Torrential rains in Argentina claim 55

At least 55 people drowned in their homes and cars, were electrocuted or died in other accidents as flooding from days of torrential rains swamped Argentina's low-lying capital and province of Buenos Aires.

Argentine Coast Guard members evacuate two women from their flood-affected residence after heavy rains flooded a large part of the city of La Plata on Wednesday. [Agencies via Shanghai Daily]

At least 49 died on Wednesday in and around the city of La Plata, Governor Daniel Scioli said. More than 20 people were missing.

Six deaths were reported a day earlier in the capital.

Many people climbed onto their roofs in the pouring rain after storm sewers backed up. Water surged up through drains in their kitchen and bathroom floors, and then poured in over their windowsills.

"It started to rain really hard in the evening, and began to flood," said Augustina Garcia Orsi, a 25-year-old student. "I panicked. In two seconds, I was up to my knees in water. It came up through the drains - I couldn't do anything."

The rains also flooded the country's largest refinery, causing a fire that took hours to put out. The La Plata refinery suspended operations as a result, and emergency team was evaluating how to get it restarted.

"Such intense rain in so little time has left many people trapped in their cars, in the streets, in some cases electrocuted. We are giving priority to rescuing people who have been stuck in trees or on the roofs of their homes," Scioli said.

But many complained that they had to rescue themselves and their neighbors as cars flooded to their rooftops and homes filled with up to 2 meters of water. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez arrived by helicopter in Tolosa, a La Plata neighborhood where she grew up and where her mother was among those evacuated.

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