The Japan Times - Milei pledges funds for deluge-stricken Argentine city

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.

K.Inoue--JT