Argentina heads for sweltering New Year, power cuts & drought

BUENOS AIRES, Dec. 30 (UPI) — Argentina is heading for a sweltering New Year’s Eve as a heat wave sweeps through the Latin American country, raising concerns about electricity and water shortages and future yield of key cash crops.

Heavy draws on the national power grid caused cuts and prolonged interruptions in electricity supplies as the capital braced for the opposite of challenges faced by countries in the north of the western hemisphere, buffeted by cold spells and snow drifts.

Officials said they couldn’t predict how long the heat wave would last.

Residents reported a run on fuels as families, factories and shops scrambled to maintain electricity supplies with backup power generation systems.

Angry inhabitants of metropolitan Buenos Aires, home to about one-quarter of Argentina’s 40 million people, demanded urgent relief measures but public services were already stretched to the limit as the scorching heat swept through the capital and environs…