The flooding of the Paraná River keeps authorities in Argentina and Paraguay on alert and generates shocking images that went viral on social networks. The flood, which counterbalances the historical drop suffered by the water course, even led to the closure of access to the Iguazú Falls for security reasons.
The increase in the flow of the Paraná and Iguazú rivers, located on the border between the north of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, could reach peaks of up to 5.5 meters at certain points in their trajectories, which is why it keeps the authorities, warned the National Water Institute (INA) of Argentina.
Read also: Check out our coverage on Argentina
The flooding is explained by the heavy rains recorded in the Upper Paraná Basin in Brazil and could intensify if the weather forecasts that predict that the flow of precipitation will intensify in the coming days are fulfilled.
The phenomenon prompted the alert in the Argentine provinces of Corrientes, Chaco, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Buenos Aires due to the possibility of being affected by the flooding of the Paraná River, the main watercourse of the Argentine coast.
However, the INA reassured the population, pointing out that, despite the care regarding navigation due to changes in the river bottom, the historical drop that the Paraná has suffered since 2020 means that this rise places the river at levels similar to normal before the downspout.
As a result of the flood, the Yacyretá-Apipé Binational Hydroelectric Power Plant on the Paraguayan-Argentine border of Paraná was forced to discharge a flow of around 22,000 m3/s, a flow “slightly higher than the average of the floods in October of the last 25 years,” as confirmed by the INA.
Letting more water pass through the dam will cause, they estimated, that the flow will increase throughout the route, reaching the mark of 2.18 meters in the Santa Fe hydrometer.
IGUAZÚ NATIONAL PARK, CLOSED
The floods over the Paraná Basin affected, in turn, one of its main tributaries: the Iguazú River.
The situation led to the temporary closure of the Iguazú National Park, which includes the majestic Iguazú Falls, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Argentine-Brazilian border and close to the triple border with Paraguay, as a security measure.
“Currently, in some sectors it is stable and going down, so the forecast is good” and it is expected “that the weather will continue to accompany us to be able to open the doors,” Atilio Guzmán, mayor of the Iguazú National Park in the province of Misiones (northeast), told local media.
With information from Sputnik