BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Rising rivers in three rain-soaked Argentine provinces have forced some 38,000 people to flee their homes as police reported seven deaths from the flooding Saturday. 
Civil defence officials said Santa Fe province in Argentina’s northeast remained the hardest-hit area, with about 30,000 of the evacuees in and around the provincial capital Santa Fe and the cities Rosario and Canada de Gomez.
Among newly reported victims Saturday, coast guard officials said a woman’s body was recovered from the rain-swollen Parana River near Rosario, a city of one million people, 280 kilometres northwest of the capital.
That brought to three the number dead after a house tumbled into the river Friday, sweeping the woman and two men to their deaths. The bodies of the two men were recovered Friday by coast guard boats in the swollen river.
“It’s so unusual, I’ve never seen so much rain,” said Eduardo Wagner, a civil defence official in Santa Fe as five days of rain lashed the region.
Thousands began evacuating recently from their homes in the provincial capital Santa Fe, 390 kilometres northwest of Buenos Aires.
Evacuees carrying laundry baskets with only a few possessions struggled through waist-deep waters. Some tried to load refrigerators and TV sets on trucks and escape to higher ground. Still others tried to cross flooded highways in small boats.
Residents cried as they recalled severe flooding in April 2005 that claimed 30 lives in Santa Fe city. That year floodwaters reached the rooftops of some low-lying homes.
On Saturday, authorities reported the latest victims included a 70-year-old farmer who was swept away by the Gualeguay River in Entre Rios province, when he tried to rescue some of his livestock from floodwaters.
That brought to seven the dead over two days, including a man killed Friday trying to save a dog from a stream and an elderly man with Alzheimer’s disease who was alone when he drowned in his flooded home, authorities said.
Jose Salim Jodor, mayor of the Entre Rios city Gualeguay, said about 8,000 people had to leave their water-filled homes in that low-lying province on Argentina’s eastern border with Uruguay.
Meanwhile, some 400 flood victims were reported in central Cordoba province on the border with Santa Fe province.
President Nestor Kirchner pledged federal assistance for the victims and residents of Buenos Aires have begun organizing charity drives of food and other emergency assistance for the hardest-hit areas.
Uruguayan authorities, meanwhile, reported some 380 people had to be evacuated from regions near the Argentine border because of flooding of small rivers and streams.
Civil defence officials said Santa Fe province in Argentina’s northeast remained the hardest-hit area, with about 30,000 of the evacuees in and around the provincial capital Santa Fe and the cities Rosario and Canada de Gomez.
Among newly reported victims Saturday, coast guard officials said a woman’s body was recovered from the rain-swollen Parana River near Rosario, a city of one million people, 280 kilometres northwest of the capital.
That brought to three the number dead after a house tumbled into the river Friday, sweeping the woman and two men to their deaths. The bodies of the two men were recovered Friday by coast guard boats in the swollen river.
“It’s so unusual, I’ve never seen so much rain,” said Eduardo Wagner, a civil defence official in Santa Fe as five days of rain lashed the region.
Thousands began evacuating recently from their homes in the provincial capital Santa Fe, 390 kilometres northwest of Buenos Aires.
Evacuees carrying laundry baskets with only a few possessions struggled through waist-deep waters. Some tried to load refrigerators and TV sets on trucks and escape to higher ground. Still others tried to cross flooded highways in small boats.
Residents cried as they recalled severe flooding in April 2005 that claimed 30 lives in Santa Fe city. That year floodwaters reached the rooftops of some low-lying homes.
On Saturday, authorities reported the latest victims included a 70-year-old farmer who was swept away by the Gualeguay River in Entre Rios province, when he tried to rescue some of his livestock from floodwaters.
That brought to seven the dead over two days, including a man killed Friday trying to save a dog from a stream and an elderly man with Alzheimer’s disease who was alone when he drowned in his flooded home, authorities said.
Jose Salim Jodor, mayor of the Entre Rios city Gualeguay, said about 8,000 people had to leave their water-filled homes in that low-lying province on Argentina’s eastern border with Uruguay.
Meanwhile, some 400 flood victims were reported in central Cordoba province on the border with Santa Fe province.
President Nestor Kirchner pledged federal assistance for the victims and residents of Buenos Aires have begun organizing charity drives of food and other emergency assistance for the hardest-hit areas.
Uruguayan authorities, meanwhile, reported some 380 people had to be evacuated from regions near the Argentine border because of flooding of small rivers and streams.
This flooding is simply a preview of the future which is incredibly saddening as climate change is occurring so rapidly that floods like this one are occurring more often.
1 comment:
Hola mi nomnre es Sebastián Lorenzo
y nací ne Entre Ríos.
Pueden ver un video sobre la inundación y direcciones donde se aceptan donaciones para los inundados.
http://www.sebalorenzo.com.ar/2007/03/31/entre-rios-datos-para-ayudar-a-los-inundados/
Thanks - Gracias
Senas Lorenzo
Argentina
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