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Hail storm buries Mexican city of Guadalajara

July 1, 2019

A freak hail storm has struck parts of Mexico's Guadalajara, leaving up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) of ice on the streets. The summer temperatures had hit 30 degrees Centigrade in the days leading up to the storm.

https://p.dw.com/p/3LNZ3
Mexiko Hagelsturm in Guadalajara
Image: Getty Images/AFP/U. Ruiz

A deluge of hail engulfed the outskirts of Guadalajara on Sunday, half-burying vehicles in ice and damaging nearly 200 homes.  

The freak hail storm in one of Mexico's largest cities came as summer temperatures hovered around 31 degrees Centigrade (88 Fahrenheit) in recent days.

Mexiko Hagelsturm in Guadalajara
Image: Reuters/F. Carranza

"I've never seen such scenes in Guadalajara," said the governor of Jalisco state, Enrique Alfaro. "Then we asked ourselves if climate change is real. These are never-before-seen natural phenomena," he said. "It's incredible."

At least six neighborhoods were covered in ice up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) deep. 

Mexiko Hagelsturm in Guadalajara
Image: Getty Images/AFP/U. Ruiz

Children were seen playing in the ice and throwing snowballs at each other in the middle of summer, while people stood around near piles of ice wearing t-shirts. 

Mexiko Hagelsturm in Guadalajara
Image: Getty Images/AFP/U. Ruiz

Civil Protection personnel and soldiers brought out machinery to clear the roads. 

Civil Protection office said nobody was injured, but two people showed early signs of hypothermia.  

Mexiko Hagelsturm in Guadalajara
Image: Reuters/F. Carranza

cw/jm (AFP, dpa, EFE)

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