Milei pledges 200 million pesos for storm-hit Bahía Blanca after criticism

Five days on from the tragedy that swept through the port city, President Javier Milei travelled Wednesday to Bahía Blanca, southern Buenos Aires Province, on Wednesday to oversee reconstruction.

Heavy storms and dangerous flooding last Friday left 16 people dead in the port city. Around a hundred remain missing, including two young sisters aged one and five.

Almost 100 people remained unaccounted for, but authorities believe most are simply unable to reach because of damage to the city's phone masts and power cuts.

Milei’s arrival in Bahía Blanca came after he was criticised for failing to visit the storm-thrashed city. 

Immediately after his visit, he pledged 200 million pesos (approximately US$185 million) for the reconstruction of the deluge-stricken city.

Milei’s announcement came after heavy criticism from opposition leaders and Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof, who had branded a previous pledge of US$10 million insufficient.

He asked Milei that “a part” of the new debt that Argentina is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund be earmarked for Bahía Blanca and its reconstruction.

“‘Since we are talking about a new agreement with the IMF, I hope that a portion of that credit will be used for issues like this, and not for gambling or financial speculation,” said Kicillof.

He also asked Milei for an urgent meeting in order to solve issues related to reconstruction.

Differentiating himself from the national government’s stance, the governor described the storm that hit the city as “neither a biblical punishment nor a horror movie, but a product of climate change.”

“An event like this has to be foreseen as much as possible and we have to be prepared,” Kicillof said at a press conference in Bahía Blanca.

Late Wednesday, the lower house Chamber of Deputies unanimously approved a bill to declare an environmental, economic and housing emergency in Bahía Blanca, with the aim of providing the city with resources.

President’s visit

Milei visited the city Wednesday, five days after the floods. He monitored reconstruction work in the city, which was left devastated by the unprecedented storm, and spoke with members of the emergency services.

The President’s office did not release details of the trip prior to his departure in a bid to head off protests from residents. But Milei and his sister, Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei, were insulted by some locals as they visited a temporary military bridge installed to cross the Maldonado Canal.

In a video shared online, an individual off-screen berates the Milei siblings and Defence Minister Luis Petri, accusing them of only “coming here for the photo-op” and demands greater assistance.

Petri, along with Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, have also been abused by local residents in recent days.

Bahía Blanca Mayor Federico Susbielles reiterated midweek that the storm had caused severe damage and affected most people in the city. He said electricity had now been restored to about 70 percent of households across the city of 350,000 people.

Susbielles, who has estimated at least US$400 million would be needed for reconstruction, said the President had assured him that "he won't abandon Bahía Blanca."

n a statement on X, Milei’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, who were travelling with their parents when their car became marooned in the fast-rising waters.

A delivery van driver managed to rescue the children and their mother and bring them aboard his vehicle but it too filled with water, relatives of the family told local media.

The four climbed onto the roof of the van but a flood surge ripped away the driver and the girls.

The mother survived, as did the children's father, but the body of the delivery driver was found on Sunday.

"There are likely to be more deaths," warned Bahía Blanca’s chief prosecutor, Juan Pablo Fernández, in an interview with Radio Mitre on Tuesday.  

Arrests, donations

Fernández also said police had received dozens of reports of thefts, looting of businesses and burglaries of vacant homes. Seventeen people have been arrested, he revealed.

A “train of solidarity” carrying tons of food, clothes and toiletries arrived in Bahía Blanca on Wednesday with donations collected at various stops along the 600-kilometre route it travelled from Buenos Aires City.

More than 4,000 volunteers joined a call from the local mayor's office to help with the distribution of donations and clean-up work.

Football clubs and local sporting associations have also launched campaigns to raise money for the victims. The Argentine Football Association released a video of national team coach Lionel Scaloni calling for donations to be made via the Red Cross.

Albiceleste captain Lionel Messi took to Instagram to wish "much strength to all those who are having a rough time in this difficult moment."

Argentine-born Pope Francis, in hospital with pneumonia, said he felt "close to the suffering" of the victims.

Classes at schools remain suspended until further notice. Half of the 200 schools surveyed were damaged, the mayor's office said, with more than 20 thought to be unusable.

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 ordered three days of national mourning following Bahía Blanca's worst disaster in decades. 

– TIMES/AFP/PERFIL