Numerical modelling of the catastrophic flooding of Santa Fe city, Argentina

VIONNET CA; TASSI PA; RODRÍGUEZ LB; FERREIRA CG

Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Simposio; 3rd International Symposium on Flood Defence - ISFD; 2005

Ministry of Public Works and Water, The Netherlands

The large plain pertaining to the Lower Basin of the Salado river in the west-central part of the State of Santa Fe, Argentina, sustains a considerable activity vital for the local economy (with less than one million of inhabitants, the region produces enough food to feed up to thirteen million people). In April-May of 2003, the whole region suffered the effects of the most devastating flood on records of the Salado river, triggered in turn by an intense rainfall event aerially concentrated in its lower basin. The State Capital, Santa Fe city, located by the Salado river mouth, was suddenly flooded when a protection levee failed on the west side of the city. People living in the floodplains nearby the city, accustomed to cope with floods typified by slowly raising water levels, faced a sudden increase of water levels of up to 4m in a matter of hours. During the flooding of one third of the city, nearly 120.000 people were suddenly displaced from their homes with a heavy toll, 23 people died and later on other 43 are believed to die due to post-traumatic distress. This work presents a numerical reconstruction of the event, emphasizing the chain of errors made by the planners of the fateful defence works that ended up in a situation that nowadays is considered the worst environmental disaster of Argentina's recent history.