Floods Hit Central Argentina As A Fire Rages İn South

Rescue workers searched Wednesday for a 50-year-old man who fell into an irrigation canal after heavy rains caused flooding in central Argentina, while in the south a huge fire threatens a national park.



The man fell into the canal while riding his horse late Tuesday at a ranch on the outskirts of El Fortin, a village about 200 kilometers (125 miles) southeast of the provincial capital, also called Cordoba, according to the police.



More than 2,000 residents have been evacuated, Cordoba's Minister of Social Development Daniel Passerini said Wednesday.



The province, known for its farmlands, hills and large automotive industry, has been hit by two weeks of steady storms, of which Tuesday "was one of the worst days," said Passerini.



Governor Jose Manuel de la Sota, who declared a state of emergency in the heartland province late Tuesday, called it the worst storm in 50 years.



The number of evacuees has reached 5,000 in Cordoba and surrounding provinces, with floodwaters blocking roads and collapsing at least one bridge, Clarin newspaper reported.



In the province of Santiago del Estero, a 78-year-old man died late Tuesday after the roof of his house collapsed in Barranca Colorada, a village on the banks of the Dulce River.



De la Sota said he is considering flooding farmlands if necessary to prevent more flooding in residential areas.



Passerini said that while the rain stopped Wednesday with no forecast of more rain for the next few days, there are concerns that rivers will swell above their banks and flood towns and villages.



As rain floods the central region, in the southern province of Chubut, a raging fire is being called the worst in the nation's history.



It has consumed an estimated 84,000 acres (34,000 hectares) since starting Feb. 15, killing wild animals and livestock in the Cholila and El Turbio regions of the Andean foothills as it threatens homes and native forests.



The fire is edging closer to the Los Alerces National Park, La Nacion newspaper reported Wednesday.



Evaristo Melo, the director general of Chubut's civil defense department, said Wednesday that 550 firefighters in the area late Tuesday were able to control "the spread of the fire," a key to protecting forestland and Los Alerces.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Arjantin