Argentina declares flood disaster

Even graveyards are under water in Santa Fe

The authorities in Santa Fe, northern Argentina, have evacuated at least 50,000 people amid the most severe flooding in the province's history.

Local officials say that seven people are known to have died in Santa Fe province, with another man dead in neighbouring Entre Rios.

President Eduardo Duhalde, who described the floods as a "national catastrophe", has announced an emergency aid package worth over $2m.

Local civil defence officials said in some areas the rivers had risen by as much as 50 centimetres (20 inches) in 12 hours, with the Salado river almost two metres (six feet) above normal.

"It was so fast, nothing like it has ever happened," said local resident Marta Lopez. Rain is forecast to continue until Thursday morning.

Provincial governor Carlos Reutemann said the floods were the worse since Santa Fe City was founded in 1573.

The BBC's Peter Greste reports that nobody, not even the weather forecasters, had predicted the floods which occurred after heavy storms on Monday.

So dramatic has been the flooding in the low-lying region, that Santa Fe City, 390 kilometres (250 miles) northeast of Buenos Aires, is effectively now an island, our correspondent says.

Santa Fe City, built on the Salado river, has a population of about 400,000.

A third of Santa Fe Province, about 200,000 hectares, is under water.

In Entre Rios province, at least 1,500 people have been evacuated.

'Ignored'

Local health officials say the floods have also caused a dramatic increase in hepatitis and gastro-intestinal illnesses.

Evacuees worried about the prospect of looting set up pickets to control access to their neighbourhoods and have complained about the lack of political attention paid to their plight.

More rain is forecast and may force more people from their homes

One embittered man told local television that there were plenty of politicians passing through during the campaign in the lead-up to Sunday's election, but now that the poll was over, nobody cared about them any longer.

However, Social Development Minister Nelida Doga and Health Minister Gines Gonzalez Garcia have been sent to the region.

President Duhalde said that "there is no system that can anticipate events that happen every 400 years".