Floods in Santa Fe, Argentina: aid package announced

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Clogged sewers in Rosario

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After the catastrophic floods produced by increased rainfall in the last week of March, the government of Santa Fe Province, Argentina, will deliver an aid package of 620 million pesos (about US$200 million) destined to the affected cities and towns.

Rosario, the largest city in Santa Fe (pop. 1 million), will receive AR$30 million, on top of AR$5 million already provided immediately after the end of the emergency. The provincial capital, Santa Fe (pop. 400,000), where over 10,000 residents are still evacuated, will receive the same amount. Other important cities (Santo Tomé, Rafaela, and Esperanza) will receive between 1 and 2 million pesos. These funds will be managed by the local administrations, and will be used to rebuild the infrastructure damaged by the weather crisis and to initiate or finish the public works required to avert future catastrophes of this kind. In Rosario, the latter will include the relocation of hundreds of poor families now living in floodable neighbourhoods. Mayor Miguel Lifschitz has expressed his satisfaction at this assistance from the provincial government.

Governor Jorge Obeid also announced the grant of AR$100 million (about US$30 million) in subsidies for the productive sector (agriculture, cattle farming, dairy, beekeeping). The economy of the province is experiencing a boom due to the high international price of agricultural commodities and the high exchange rate, but the flood affected no less than 3.5 million hectares (35,000 km² or about 8.6 million acres).

This aid package will come from an "anticyclical fund", where the fiscal surplus is partially saved for emergency situations, plus a restructuring of the budget and some assistance from the national government.