A Ghost Town in Argentina has Reemerged after a 30-Year Flood

Jorge Rodriguez-Jimenez - 12/21/15 - things that matter

In 1985, a tourist village in Argentina named Villa Epecuén was flooded by a salty lake that broke through a dam. Now, 30 years after the town flooded, Villa Epecuén has reemerged and people cannot get enough of the Argentine ghost town. Who wants to take a trip?

Here you can see Villa Epecuén before and after the flood.

On the left, you have pre-flood Epecuén. O the right, you have Epecuén today.

The flooded city was once a tourist resort town. It had a railroad that made it easier to travel there.

Lago epecuen . postal #epecuen #postal #argentina #buenosaires #picture #pictureoftheday #photo #photovintage

A photo posted by Nicolas Baroni (@baroni.nicolas) on

Epecuén was built in the 1920s, and by the ’70s, it’s population was over 5,000.

After years of unusually heavy rainfall around the area, Lago Epecuén broke a natural dam and slowly flooded the town.

And for the next 30 years, the village about 300 miles southwest of Buenos Aires, was submerged.

The water first started to recede slowly in 2009.

Like, veeerrry slowly.

Now, the city is almost completely dried out and people are exploring the modern ghost town that was once full of life.

READ: Drought in Mexico Exposes a 16th Century Church 

People are using the ghost town for photo shoots…

#photo #photographer #epecuen #fotografia #myjob

A photo posted by Juan Augusto Fernandez Matviu (@jmatviu) on

…and epic day trips with amazing photos.

https://www.instagram.com/p/-7OPqYQ0Id/

The town now resembles a post-apocalyptic landscape.

Screen Shot 2015-12-21 at 12.30.14 PM
Credit: @gulf_news / Twitter

It’s kind of like looking at a war zone with all the damage and decay to the buildings and trees.

Now, that the village has resurfaced, it has returned to being a tourist destination.

Screen Shot 2015-12-21 at 12.15.46 PM
Credit: @saludyecologia / Twitter

For a completely different reason, but what ever works, right?

Official placards are set throughout the village telling the story of the flood.

And apparently some kind of electricity to light up the landmarks in the dark.

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But there is one man who calls it home. Meet Pablo Novak.

Novak left when the water originally flooded the town.

20 years later, when the town was still flooded Novak moved back and enjoyed the town, even finding an old bottle of whiskey he decided to drink.

“I got back here to stay with my cattle. And I never left again,” Novak told CNN.

“I thought they were going to rebuild the town, considering its fame, but no one got the motivation to do so,” Novak told CNN.

And he says that today he just enjoys being able to walk around the ruins of his home town.

Who wants to visit Lago Epecuén to check this out? Share this story with your friends and let the road trip begin!


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