Nevertheless the city of 400,000 inhabitants remained 40 percent under water and 60,000 people evacuated from their homes more than 48 hours after the flooding began, local authorities said.

Some residents have opted to stay in their homes for fear of looters.

Classes remained suspended, with schools serving as emergency shelters for the homeless.

Provincial governor Carlos Reutemann compared the impact of the floods with the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

"What has happened in the city is of the same magnitude as what happened in New York with the twin towers," he told a press conference.

Local authorities are hopeful the situation will be normalised as aid arrives from all over the country, although more rain has fallen on the northern slopes of the Rio Salado basin, the river that runs through Santa Fe.

President Eduardo Duhalde announced Thursday that the World Bank will offer the province a credit of 350 million pesos (110 million dollars) within the next fortnight to help cope with the aftermath of the floods.

SPACE.WIRE