The Paraná River flooded homes in the Anahí neighborhood on the northern edge of Corrientes city on Friday, October 16, and the province’s civil defense says 222 people have been relocated since the flood began.
The river is forecast to pass 7 metres at Corrientes on Friday or Saturday, the level at which evacuations are ordered. Bruno Lovinson, head of provincial civil defense, said 71 people from 14 families in the capital had already left on their own, and he expects the crest to take four or five more days to pass. Governor Juan Pablo Valdés toured the area on Thursday and said shelters with food and medical care would open if more families have to leave.
Most of the displaced are upriver, where the flood arrived first. In Itatí, 55 people have been relocated, up from 14. On Isla Apipé Grande and Isla Apipé Chica, near the Yacyretá dam, 44 have left, and 19 residents of Ituzaingó have been moved. Paso de la Patria, in Corrientes, and Barranqueras, in Chaco, remain on alert.
Further up the Paraná, in Misiones, towns including Libertad and Santa Ana remain under evacuation, though readings there show the river steady or falling.
The Yacyretá Binational Entity expects inflows to keep rising until Friday and then hold steady or fall slightly from Saturday, October 17.
The Uruguay River has stopped being the main worry. The Salto Grande dam’s joint technical commission said the river at Concordia, in Entre Ríos, stood at 10.86 metres on Friday and will not pass the 11-metre alert mark in the coming days. In Paso de los Libres, Corrientes, 31 people from six families remain in army barracks.
The commission expects no rain in the river’s northern basin for several days, with rain returning from October 22.
