2003 Santa Fe flood
Encyclopedia
This article is about the flooding of Santa Fe
Santa Fe, Argentina
Santa Fe is the capital city of province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It sits in northeastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies opposite the city of Paraná, to which it is linked by the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel. The city is also connected by canal with the...

, capital of the , in April 2003
2003 in Argentina
-January:* 3 January: The Assembly of the Justicialist Party, with three presidential candidates, proposes using the Ley de Lemas in the main election instead of selecting one candidate in primaries. The opposition is outraged.-February:...

. Santa Fe is the fifth most populated city in Argentina (~370,000 inhabitants), and it is surrounded by rivers. The flooding was described as the worst since the city was founded in 1573.

At the end of April 2003, several days of heavy rainfall caused some major rivers in the Santa Fe area to rise as much as 50 cm in 12 hours. The water level of the Salado River (which flows through the north of the province and empties into the Paraná
Paraná River
The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina for some . It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language...

) rose by almost two metres in just three hours.

On 28 April, the Salado overflowed its margins and flooded large sections of Santa Fe. About 100,000 people had to be evacuated, 24 people died, and 28,000 houses were damaged or destroyed. A dyke had to be blown up in order for ease the flow of the floodwaters out of the city. In this key area for the agricultural and ranching industries, over 30,000 km² of farmland were destroyed. The flood hit the capital hardest, but many other communities were also affected.

The flood was unusual because it is generally the east side of Santa Fe, beside the Paraná, which is affected by floodings. Salado River floodings are less usual.

Soon after the initial flooding, President
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...

 Eduardo Duhalde
Eduardo Duhalde
-External links:...

 declared the province a "disaster zone" and announced a $2 million emergency aid package. The World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

 later offered an additional $110 million. The Red Cross launched an emergency appeal in response to the flooding on 6 May.

According to a UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 assessment requested by the provincial governor Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Alberto Reutemann , nicknamed "Lole", is an Argentine former racing driver , and later a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party....

, the total damages were about $1,000 million, and implied the loss of about 12% of Santa Fe's GDP.

The rains continued into the next days, exacerbating the catastrophe. As of 8 May, a quarter of Santa Fe remained under water. Precarious evacuation centres appeared in the capital and nearby towns to accommodate the evacuees.

The provincial government was heavily criticized for ignoring warnings about the possibility of a sudden rise of the Salado River, and for ignoring appeals to build the necessary preventive infrastructure to contain or divert floods. The official treatment of the people who lost their homes, possessions and jobs was also questioned; food relief and promised subsidies for reconstruction were insufficient. Governor Reutemann saw the end of his term in office marked by these problems. The critical situation of Argentina at the time (recovering from a major economic crisis
Argentine economic crisis (1999-2002)
The Argentine economic crisis was a financial situation, tied to poilitical unrest, that affected Argentina's economy during the late 1990s and early 2000s...

) did not help. On 30 January 2004, nine months after the flood and under the administration of Jorge Obeid
Jorge Obeid
Jorge Alberto Obeid is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician, currently an Argentine Chamber of Deputies and former governor of Santa Fe Province until 2007....

, a demonstration asking for government assistance to those affected by the flood ended with the burning of the government house's facade and several offices destroyed.
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