Argentina Flood Emergency News Updates: Meteorologist Predicts Worsening of Situation

With several parts of the world being intensely ravaged by the ongoing El Niño Phenomenon, a number of countries, including Latin American countries such as Argentina, have been affected by the worldwide climate anomaly.

Back in December alone, intense flooding, which was largely blamed on El Niño, displaced approximately 150,000 Latin Americans from Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. With the floods literally turning streets into rivers, most of the country's economies have taken a significant blow.

Flooding and Argentina's Agricultural Sector

In Argentina, six of the country's primary farming provinces were declared flood emergency areas by the government on Friday. This gives the country special credit lines and tax breaks for those affected, especially people who are part of the country's farming sector.

The six provinces considered as flood emergency areas include Cordoba, Santa Fe, Entre Rios, Chaco, La Rioja and Corrientes, areas which produce notable crops such as soy and corn. Interestingly, the province of Buenos Aires, the country's top grain exporting area, was not included in the list, despite flooding being reported in the province as well.

Being the world's top supplier of soy meal livestock feed, the third biggest supplier of raw soybeans and the number four exporter of corn, Argentina's agriculture sector carries a significant portion of the country's economy. Thus, though the tax breaks are a salve to those affected by the intense flooding in the country, they are nonetheless a significant step forward towards rising up from the recent climate crisis.

Long-Term Damages

Though most of Argentina is now focused on rebuilding and recuperating from the devastating effects of the intense flooding, Anthony Deane, a Meteorologist from Weather Wise Argentina stated that the effects of the floods will probably negatively affect the agriculture sector of the country for some time.

"I expect 100 to 130 millimeters to fall over the next ten days in these three areas, which is more than what has been the normal rate over the last five years. So the situation is going to get worse before it gets better," he said.

Despite the grim situation in Argentina, however, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has stated that the El Niño Phenomenon has already reached its climax, and is soon about to decline. Petteri Taalas, the secretary-general of the WMO, believes that the weather phenomenon has started to wane.

"In meteorological terms, this El Nino is now in decline," Taalas said, adding "we cannot lower our guard as it is still quite strong and in humanitarian and economic terms, its impacts will continue for many months to come."