Argentinians are left without the only agency responsible for responding to the social effects of climatic disasters, such as the one currently affecting Bahía Blanca. On Friday, February 28, ahead of a long weekend, dozens of workers from the National Emergency Directorate were abruptly laid off via emails. Last week, the government dismantled this agency and fired all its employees.
In recent decades, the National Emergency Directorate has been fundamental in responding to events that have profoundly marked the collective memory of the Argentine population. Among them are the floods in Santa Fe in 2003, which caused thousands of evacuations; the landslide in Tartagal in 2009, which left dozens of fatalities; and the eruption of the Puyehue volcano in 2011, whose ash cloud paralyzed the south of the country. Former officials who collaborated with the management of the Directorate have highlighted on social media the crucial importance of this agency in emergency situations, emphasizing its ability to coordinate resources and save lives.
Indignation has been rising both in the streets and on social media, with numerous messages pointing out the inconsistency of dismantling an agency that demonstrated effective functioning in critical moments. The situation becomes even more alarming considering the current context of increasingly severe climatic events due to climate change.
The dismissed employees of the National Emergency Directorate mobilized to the Ministry of Human Capital to warn about the consequences of these adjustments. A few days later, heavy rains struck the province of Buenos Aires, causing the evacuation of at least 40 families in Bahía Blanca and numerous patients from the Dr. José Penna Interzonal Hospital, including neonatology infants.
In a dialogue with Canal Abierto, some laid-off workers from the Emergency Directorate mentioned that the sectors affected by the cuts included warehouses where food and other products were stored. This presents a bleak scenario for assisting those in Buenos Aires affected by the recent rains, as occurred in December 2023 when a storm caused the death of 13 people in Bahía Blanca and the administration did not provide the necessary aid. The backdrop of this new staff reduction is framed within the adjustment policy implemented by the government of Javier Milei, which has fired more than 30,000 state employees and dismantled fundamental areas of the State. The National Emergency Directorate played a crucial role in crisis coordination and management in Argentina.
