Anegamientos en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires

Resumen

Floods inBuenos Airescity. Floods have been the main natural hazard in the urban environment of theBuenos Airesarea. As a result of the important economic losses and impact on lifequality, much has been written, copied and repeated but very few original research has been carried out to analyze their circumstances. This work reviews in detail the relation between the different natural factors involved and how they contribute to the numerous floods occurred inBuenos Airescity during the last eleven years (1993-2003). These initial results are part of a wider research, which attempts to establish a flood-dynamic model. It analyses in which way geological and geomorphologic features as well as hydrological and climatic factors interact among each other and with the urban environment, affecting the population. The correlation of these factors and the circumstances that trigger floods are analyzed in relation to local and global situations. Methodologies used by different institutions, including state and municipal organizations with competence in urban flood control, are discussed as a basis to find accurate criteria to identify and describe the events. Inadequate data collection and information treatment of the events has led to very different results. The lack of continuity in event recordings, due to changes in policy decisions as well as the performance of short-lived national or international programs, has produced biased information that has significantly changed the way the phenomena are recognized. Key words: Natural hazards, Urban floods,Buenos AiresCity.