Earth News from TerraDaily.com
Milei pledges funds for deluge-stricken Argentine city
Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 12 (AFP) Mar 12, 2025
Argentine President Javier Milei promised some $185 million Wednesday for the reconstruction of the city of Bahia Blanca as the search continued for two little girls and others missing after flash floods last week killed at least 16 people.

Budget-slashing Milei visited the city Wednesday, five days after the floods that mayor Federico Susbielles said have caused severe damage affecting most people in the city.

Susbielles, who has estimated at least $400 million would be needed for reconstruction, said the president had assured him that "he won't abandon Bahia Blanca."

In a statement on X, the president's office said the government money allocated for rehabilitation would be disbursed "without intermediaries."

The city of 350,000 people was hit Friday by torrential rains that in just a few hours doubled the annual average.

Rescuers are still searching for two sisters, aged one and five, swept away by the current along with their mother and a man who had tried to save them.

The girls' mother survived, but the man's body was found on Sunday.

"There are likely to be more deaths," Bahia Blanca's chief prosecutor, Juan Pablo Fernandez, told Radio Mitre on Tuesday.

He said police had received dozens of reports of thefts, looting of businesses, and burglaries of vacant homes, and 17 people have been arrested.

Tons of donated food, clothing and hygiene products arrived in the city by train Wednesday, with contributions collected at different stops along the 600 kilometers (370 miles) it had travelled from Buenos Aires.

Some 4,000 volunteers were helping distribute aid and taking part in clean up efforts.

Schools remained closed, with many reporting flood damage.

The deluge also flooded the main hospital, tore down bridges, damaged roads and houses and swept away pretty much everything in its path.

Thousands of people were evacuated, of whom about 370 remained in shelters Wednesday, according to authorities.

The government had ordered three days of national mourning over Bahia Blanca's worst disaster in decades.





Space News from SpaceDaily.com
PLD Space selected as leading contender for ESA sovereign launch initiative
UK thermal satellite firm wins ESA contract to deliver real time climate and security insights
UK opens competitive bid for GBP 75 million orbital cleanup mission

24/7 Energy News Coverage
China speeds up renewables building spree: report
French giant EDF will take 12.5 pecent stake in new UK nuclear plant
Major US teachers union teams up with AI giants

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
BlackSky expands Gen-3 access to bolster Ukraine-focused intelligence operations
Maxar secures $205 million in multi-year deals to boost space capabilities across MEA
K2 Space validates satellite systems in orbit and fires record-breaking thruster

24/7 News Coverage
The long slow death of Norway's wild salmon
Beijing decries 'discriminatory' ban on Chinese purchases of US farmland
China's 'new farmers' learn to livestream in rural revitalisation


ADVERTISEMENT



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.