Heavy rain. The one in the southeast that pushed the water out with force. An apocalyptic dawn that added to the real reason for the tragedy. Hydropower construction was left unfinished, and no one seemed to care about the fate of the town as a whole.
On the night of November 10th, 1985Exactly 40 years ago Villa Epequena town of about 1,500 residents among them southwest of Buenos Aires Once a vacation destination for local aristocrats, the area began to be submerged.
It is said that it will take about 20 years for the water to reach a height of more than 7 meters to begin receding. From below, flood The small town was destroyed by ruinseroded by the particularly salty water that covered them and by the passage of time.
Villa Epecuen was founded in 1921, approximately 540 kilometers from the city of Buenos Aires, near the Buenos Aires border with La Pampa province. Founded by Arturo Vatteone, the secret of the town’s success lies in its exceptional proximity to the city of Buenos Aires. Epecuen Lagoon.
The lagoon levels are: salt Its height is comparable to that of the Dead Sea. Therefore, Villa Epequen quickly became the destination of choice for those seeking to improve their health.
The huge concentration of minerals in the lagoon’s water and its status as a hot spring have given the region unprecedented fame and popularity. Even the World Health Organization (WHO) has come to include lagoon water in the category of “hypermarine” and at the same time considered it suitable for traditional medicine due to its therapeutic abilities. Rheumatism and skin conditions.
The wealthiest aristocrats of Buenos Aires began to choose Villa Epecuen for vacation and recuperation. In this way, the town continued to grow in terms of hotels, the construction of luxurious mansions for frequent visitors, and even industries related to the extraction of salt and its derivatives.
In the ’70s, the golden age of the southwest Buenos Aires town, about 1,500 people lived there. What was most shocking was how this population increased over the summer. 25,000 tourists.
In addition to the medicinal properties attributed to the lagoon, Epecuén was also distinguished by the beauty of its environment and architectural works that stood out from the rest. “Slaughterhouse”the work of a famous architect Francisco Salamoneis a work that combines Art Deco with certain elements of functionalism and futurism.
Due to its close proximity to the lagoon and high dependence, Epequen was exposed to a precarious situation. Depending on the season, drought It encroached and reduced the number of visitors and thus the economic activity of the place. At the same time, the irregular flow of the lagoon meant that there were seasons of high water, which threatened to flood the town.
In 1975, the Buenos Aires government began construction. Amekino, a canal that connects different basins and regulates water levels. However, after the military coup in March 1976, major construction work stopped. abandoned It stayed that way.
As the 1980s progressed, the rains increasingly affected the town. Every year, the lagoon grew 50-50 centimeters. a embankment It was about 5 meters high and protected Epecuén from the ever-growing lagoon of the same name.
But in November 1985, tragedy was inevitable. of state I was in the middle of an emergency: 4.5 million hectares of territory were floodeda drama that retains its legitimacy. In this context, and based on previous experience, local residents and especially firefighters warned that the embankment could collapse.
However, neither city nor state authorities acknowledged receipt. They underestimated the risk and assured that even if a flood eventually occurred, the water level would not exceed 10 centimeters.
The combination of a huge storm and a southeasterly storm on the night of November 10, 1985, showed that the firefighters and neighbors were right, and that the authorities had acted at least negligently.
Water slowly began seeping in from the other side of the levee, but eventually the levee collapsed and the town was flooded. Water slowly but surely began to occupy Villa Epequen. For 15 days, an operation was carried out to evacuate all, or in fact almost all, of the town’s inhabitants.
No one died, but none of Epequen’s residents preserved their heritage.. They lost their home, car, furniture, and photos. their life stories. Floods caused the coffin in the cemetery to float and had to be moved to the Carhue cemetery, 7 kilometers from Villa Epecuen.
Even after evacuation, the flood situation was far from subsided. Reaching its greatest peak in 1987, almost a decade after the lagoon overtopped its banks, Villa Epequen 7 meters deep.
Overflowing water covered Villa Epequen for more than 20 years. But towards 2005 Thanks to infrastructure construction to prevent inflow from outside, water started to fall. What was underneath, what came out from under the flood, ghost town, ruins. The bones of the town are filled with rusting cars and bicycles, dead trees, and vacant and demolished houses. It was all eaten up by salt..
However, neither the flood nor its resurrection changed the fate of Villa Epecuén, an outstanding tourist destination. When the town was under water, there were tourists coming to take a boat ride down the street. But the real anger came after 2005, after the water had receded.
The ruins were tourist attractions. Since 2021, the tourist hub of the Buenos Aires district of Adolfo Alcina is actually the ruins of Villa Epecuen. Mainly domestic and international tourists, photographers, and filmmakers visit the area and use it as an apocalyptic setting.
Salamone’s El Matadero is one of the most visited sites in Epecuen for its abandoned streets, urban ruins, and traces left by water tragedies. The healing properties of the town’s iconic lagoon no longer evoke the interest of the Golden Age, but they remain an attraction of the place.
pablo novak He never left the area. He was the only resident of Epequen. resisted evacuation: There was a continuation in the middle of the ruins. It was located in an important location 200 meters from the town center. He built a house there on the advice of his father, but at the same time his father had been warned by the architect about the risk of flooding in such areas.
They also called him “Don Pablo” and also “Solitaire of Epecuen”, turning him into a legend of this place over the years. Born in 1930, he was a living witness to the town’s history: its founding, its golden age, its floods, and how it emerged as the waters began to recede.
He and his dog Chozno toured the ruins on horseback and bicycle. In interviews on Argentine television, the BBC, and his hugely popular YouTube channel, Pablo endlessly told the stories of his people.
He always said he enjoyed living there. I didn’t want to “start over” anywhere.. The unparalleled silence of the town and the chirping of birds at dawn were among his favorite things about daily life. He lived alone on his farm, cooked with bottled gas, and had installed solar panels to provide electricity.
Pablo Novak became a standard bearer for the people, and in 2020 the Municipality of Adolfo Alsina recognized him as the region’s ambassador of culture and tourism.
On January 21, 2024, a few days after turning 94, Novak, the last resident of Villa Epecuén, passed away. He had suffered a stroke some time ago. His wish was to be cremated and his ashes scattered on the streets of the city.
After Paul’s death, Villa Epecuen was officially declared a desert town. Its ruins, salty skeletons and memories of a town that lived in a golden age and sank due to abandonment by the authorities remain there, but it was never forgotten.
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