The floods in Corrientes reached critical levels after recording 495.4 millimeters of rain in just one week.
Due to this, more than 400 residents had to be evacuated while the water overflowed entire neighborhoods and collapsed infrastructure systems.
Thus, the province faces an unprecedented water emergency in this atypical December.
It’s because the accumulated precipitations far exceeded historical averages, causing severe flooding in Corrientes.
According to the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), the city of Corrientes recorded the highest precipitation value at the provincial level, with 495.4 millimeters.
Other localities also reported alarming figures: El Sombrero accumulated 327 millimeters, Mercedes exceeded 214, Santo Tomé reached 152, and Bella Vista recorded 118 millimeters.
In Mercedes, the INTA observatory noted that December accumulated 286 millimeters in just eight rainy days, compared to a monthly average of 149.
Floods in Corrientes: services collapsed
The intensity of the rains caused the immediate collapse of drainage systems.
According to Civil Defense sources consulted by Noticias Argentinas, the fall of up to 300 millimeters in a few hours generated widespread flooding.
Power outages and interruptions in transportation made it difficult to access neighborhoods and transport residents.
Personnel from the National Gendarmerie and Argentine Naval Prefecture were deployed to monitor the rise of the Uruguay and Paraná rivers.
The evacuees were given shelter in municipal gyms and schools enabled as assistance centers.
Civil Defense, Firefighters, and the provincial Police coordinated the distribution of food and materials. The tasks included reinforcing citizen and road safety in critical areas.
The impact of the floods on daily life
The flooded streets transformed the routine of thousands of inhabitants. “We are prisoners of the storm,” reported residents of Marcelo T. de Alvear, between Liniers and Remedios de Escalada, according to testimonies collected by the media Norte Corrientes.
Businesses, meanwhile, operate with shutters halfway down while workers navigated sidewalks turned into shores.
Additionally, the streets turned into ditches that forced improvised detours.
The accumulation of garbage dragged by the current and the saturated storm drains worsened the flood scenario in Corrientes.
Each trash bag stuck in a grate accelerated the flooding and slowed the water’s descent. The difficulties in getting to work or crossing a street multiplied in minutes.
The residents’ complaints and the forecast
The residents focused their complaints on the need for sustained cleaning and infrastructure works. The lack of maintenance made any downpour problematic.
The insufficiency of drainage works turned the situation into a routine for the most affected areas.
The INTA Meteorology area forecasts that the most intense precipitations will extend until this Tuesday, December 30.
Then, scattered showers are expected for Wednesday, December 31, and a possible return of the rains on January 1, although with less intensity.
The authorities maintained surveillance over the rainfall maps and the update of the official forecast.
The number of evacuees exceeded 400, and operations continued to relocate the affected residents and deliver essential supplies.
