March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Flood victims in Buenos Aires are fed up with City Hall's response to rainwater streaming into their homes and businesses: First officials blame previous administrations, then they promise a solution.

``I'll believe it the next time it rains a few drops and the store isn't flooded,'' said Gabriel Delias, 45, who owns a perfume and cosmetics shop in the Palermo neighborhood.

Delias was among shopkeepers whose stock was damaged when a Feb. 28 storm dumped 60 millimeters (2.4 inches) of rain in three hours, causing torrents of water to surge down streets and into basements and ground floors. No one was killed or seriously injured.

The same day, Mayor Mauricio Macri, who took office in December, announced plans to spend 2 billion pesos ($630 million) on improving and expanding Buenos Aires's drainage system. The city hasn't invested in infrastructure in 50 years, said Pablo Bereciartua, Macri's director of infrastructure.

``When our plan is over, the city will be ready to withstand the kind of strong rains that only occur once every 10 years,'' Bereciartua said in a telephone interview.

Such reassurances don't convince Delias.

``I heard just the same from Macri's people as I've heard from previous governments in the past 15 years,'' he said.

People waded through waist-high water, cars floated down Buenos Aires streets, and buses sent swells of water into stores and homes after the Feb. 28 downpours.

Three days later, more flooding occurred when 26 millimeters of rain fell.

Climate Change

Climate change and real-estate development are blamed for increased flooding in recent years.

``We are having fewer days of rain but the storms are more intense,'' Eduardo Piacentini, director of the Department of Climate Change at the National Meteorological Service, said in a telephone interview. ``This phenomenon is a result of global warming that leads to an increase in humidity that results in heavier rains.''

The building boom in the capital has destroyed gardens and other green spaces that helped prevent floods, said Enrique Olivera, a former Buenos Aires mayor and now a city congressman.

``The city is now more vulnerable than before because a higher level of cement and construction reduces the capacity to absorb water,'' Olivera said in a telephone interview. ``The city needs more works, but it will take time to see results.''

Until then, Jose Grego, who said he has lost count of how many times his Palermo clothing store has been flooded since it opened three years ago, is trying to minimize the damage.

Flood Barriers

Before closing each evening, Grego said, he listens to the weather forecast on radio. If rain is predicted, he removes T- shirts and pants from the lowest shelves and places metal flood barriers across the doorway.

The deluge Feb. 28 took Grego, 54, by surprise. He didn't hear any warning about the storm, so he didn't take his usual precautions -- and lost about 4,000 pesos of garments and a computer.

``It happened so quickly,'' he said. ``The water started to rise and the store was flooded very fast.''

Buenos Aires residents like Grego can't afford to relax even with little rain in the forecast. The meteorological service predicts that rainfall amounts through the end of May will be average or less.

Nonetheless, it warns, localized storms that are impossible to forecast can bring abundant rain.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eliana Raszewski in Buenos Aires eraszewski@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 12, 2008 22:01 EDT