Buenos Aires, August 15 (teleSUR-RHC)-- More than 30,000 people have been affected by recent floods in Buenos Aires Province, in the central region of Argentina.

Some 11,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes and at least three were reported killed as a result of the heavy rains that fell during the last week, causing several rivers to overflow. A total of 39 districts were affected, including cities as Lujan, Escobar, San Antonio de Areco and Salto took the worst part: according to municipal government officials, 99 percent of the homes in Salto were flooded.

A first look at the floods indicate that the main reason lies in the bad weather conditions of recent days. More than 400 millimeters of rain fell in one week, dwarfing the August average of 60 millimeters. A special report by the National Weather Service stated that only on Aug. 9-10, the total rainfall was almost 240 millimeters in the affected areas of the Buenos Aires Province.

But besides last week’s undeniably heavy rain, several experts have started to point out that there are other problems that make it even more difficult for the water to take its natural course to the rivers. Scientists like Patricia Pintos, a researcher at the Geographic Research Center of the University of La Plata, are pointing out that the increasing number of gated communities and country clubs in the province, which are home to some of the wealthiest sectors of Argentina’s society, have started to affect the soil. According to Pintos, wetlands are a vital part of the river’s ecosystem as they absorb water back into the riverbeds; these building projects have destroyed many of them by refilling them in order to raise the level of the soil.

​Another research conducted by the National Water Institute showed that some gated community building projects, such as San Sebastian, nearby the city of Pilar – are also affected by the recent flooding and established right on top of several wetlands near the Lujan river. So as the water cannot drain through the wetlands, the flooding start to become more common and they start affecting more and more people. Besides San Sebastian, other 60 building projects are set on top of the Lujan river wetlands.

The flooding have started to set off alarms about the lack of municipal regulations over elite building projects. It seems this problem will necessarily  be  part of the agenda for the new municipal and provincial administrations that will come to power after the October general elections.