The Telagraph. Argentine ghost town reemerges from under water 25 years after flood

A flooded Argentinean ghost town has reemerged from under water after spending 25 years on bottom of a lake, drawing awe and crowds of tourists.

Epecuen, a bustling lakeside resort southwest of Buenos Aires, used to attract 20-thousand tourists a season during its golden age, in particular its saltwater lake, which has 10 times more salt than the ocean.

But a very strong rainstorm and a series of wet winters sent the lake curiosity rising out of its shores on November 10, 1985, and overflowing the town in the process, while waters burst through a retaining wall and spilled into the lakeside streets. Epecuen submerged under nearly 33 feet of corrosive saltwater within days.

The floods began to recede only in 2007, reviving the resort as a tourist destination after some 25 years of oblivion, with crowds coming to climb staircases that lead nowhere and see the rusted hulks of cars and furniture, crumbled homes and broken appliances.
People fled the town with whatever they could grab when the floods hit in 1985. But there was one resident who refused to leave. Pablo Novak, 82, still lives on the edge of the town, welcoming people who wander into the ghost town.

The local tourism authority is now looking for a heritage site status for Epecuen in the hope that the very ruins of the former bustling resort will be the future lifeblood of the region.