The floods generated by the freak El Niño in South America caused the death of two Argentine rural laborers who were moving livestock to save them from the strong flooding of the Paraná River, local media reported on Monday night.
The tragedy adds to other disasters generated by El Niño in the region, such as the strong storms that recently hit Peru and Chile.
The workers fell into the water near the city of Bella Vista, in the province of Corrientes, when they were trying to move the rodeo, according to the information portal Perfil. The northern province of Argentina has already registered hundreds of evacuees due to the flooding caused by the rains.
Although a powerful version of El Niño is expected to punish many countries with droughts in the coming months, its effect in some parts of South America – such as Argentina – will be widespread flooding.
Flooding is already hitting various populations in the north of the country, although Argentina – an important food exporter – could also benefit from El Niño: the higher than normal rainfall it causes in the Pampas plains is favorable for agricultural production.
El Niño consists of a slowdown in the trade winds, which drives the warming of the surface of the eastern Pacific Ocean, generating intense rains and droughts in several areas of Latin America.
