Back in the 1920s, a tourist village was established along the shore of Lago Epecuen, a salt lake some 600 kilometers southwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The resort town, named Villa Epucuen, soon had a railroad station, and it thrived for several decades, peaking in the 1970s with a population of more than 5,000. Around the same time, a long-term weather event was delivering far more rain than usual to the surrounding hills for years, and Lago Epecuen began to swell. In 1985, the salty waters broke through an earthen dam, and Villa Epecuen was doomed. A slow-growing flood consumed the town until it reached a depth of 10 meters (33 feet) in 1993. The wet weather later reversed, and the waters began to recede in 2009. AFP photographer Juan Mabromata recently visited the ruins of Villa Epecuen, met its sole inhabitant, and returned with these images.
The Ruins of Villa Epecuen
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Aerial picture of the ruins of Villa Epecuen, some 600 km southwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina, taken on May 3, 2011. The highly saline water of Lago Epecuen has receded in recent years, after flooding the village in 1985 and and submerging it under 10 meters (33 feet) of salt water for nearly 25 years. #
Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images -
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Lone inhabitant of Villa Epecuen, 81-year-old Pablo Novak tends his wood stove at his on May 3, 2011. Novak is the only one of some 1,500 original residents to have returned to the Villa. #
Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images -
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The road leading to the cemetery of Carhue, near Villa Epecuen, at sunset on May 4, 2011. Parts of Carhue, including its cemetery, were also affected by the flood that kept Lago Epecuen underwater for years. #
Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images -
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