Argentina in mourning as floods kill 54, sow chaos

LA PLATA: Argentina's government declared three days of national mourning from Wednesday after massive flooding killed 54 people in Buenos Aires and the nearby university city of La Plata.

At least 46 people died as flood waters hit La Plata about 60 kilometers (40 miles) south of the capital, following historic rains that swept through the streets, submerging cars as people cowered on rooftops. Most of the victims were found after a second day of record rainfall hit the area.

"The bodies began to appear as the water subsided," said Governor Daniel Scioli, as officials confirmed the death toll and locals piled up chaotic heaps of soaked mattresses and destroyed refrigerators.

A senior city official, Santiago Martorelli, told local television the floods were a "catastrophe," and said La Plata's schools and government offices had been closed.

"There are people on rooftops, in trees waiting for us to rescue them," Martorelli said, adding that firefighters, civil defense workers, police and soldiers have been deployed to the area to help in rescue operations.

The fatalities in La Plata, a bustling university city of just under one million, followed at least eight others in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, when a storm knocked out power lines and downed trees.

President Cristina Kirchner made a surprise visit to La Plata, surveying the devastation by helicopter.