Floods in Argentina

LATRUBESSE, E.; BREA, D.

Geomorphology of Natural Hazards and Human Exacerbated Disasters in Latin America

Elsevier

Año: 2008; p. 333 - 349

Argentina is a country strongly affected by floods; the main areas affected and the disasters produced by such floods are discussed herein. The fluvial systems of Argentina can be classified into three main groups: large tropical rivers, torrential rivers with headwaters in mountain areas, and flat-plain rivers with insufficient drainage efficiency. The torrential rivers group can be subdivided into two categories: (a) Rivers fed by torrential rains, and (b) rivers fed by rain and snow. Agriculture and cattle farming have been the main activities of the national economy since the origin of the nation, and these activities are concentrated in the Chaco-Pampean region, an extremely flat area with very productive land but poor drainage capacity. Floods in rivers such as the Salado (Buenos Aires Province) and local floods in the Sub-Mmeridional lowlands of Santa Fe affect thousands of inhabitants and millions of hectares of productive land, causing huge economic losses of up to more than US$ 500 million. The Parana´ River is the country’s largest tropical river and its main waterway. Several important cities are located along its banks. Some of the largest floods on the Parana´ River have been related to El Nin˜o-ENSO events. During the 1982-1983 El Nin˜o-Enso event, more than 234,000 people had to be evacuated, and damage caused losses of more than US$ 2,600 million. The floods of the 1991-1992 El Nin˜o-ENSO event were also catastrophic, causing estimated losses of US$ 513 million and affecting more than 122,000 inhabitants.. Floods also affect some of the inhabitants of Patagonia and urban centers in the Piedmont areas of the Andes in the northwest region of the country, although the number of people affected and economic losses are lower that those in the Pampa and Parana´ River regions because of their low population densities and less developed regional economies. One particular case, the flood of the city of Santa Fe in 2003, one of the most dramatic natural catastrophes in Argentina, is also analyzed. The disaster was produced by a combination of intense rain in the lower basin of the Salado River (Santa Fe) and the negligence of the local government. Nearly 140,000 inhabitants were affected, and the flood caused an economic loss of around US$ 1,000 million. It is argued that two main factors have contributed to generating the worst scenario for disasters in Argentina: a climatic trend, since approximately 1970, of increasing rainfall, and the political instability of the country throughout practically the whole of the second half of the twentieth century until the present day.