SANTIAGO: Heavy rains have wreaked havoc in south and central Chile, killing one person and damaging hundreds of homes as authorities declared a state of catastrophe in five regions of the South American nation, reported Western media on Friday.
A person died in the city of Linares when a street lamp post fell on him after hours-long heavy rain and strong winds, the Senapred disaster response service said.
Chile’s weather service has issued the highest level of alarm, covering some 14 million of the 20 million people living in the country’s six regions, but later it was lifted as authorities said 80 percent of the storm had passed, and was headed for Argentina.
Before the arrival of the floods, Chile’s central region had battled drought for 15 years. “We need boats to get people out,” a resident in one of the affected towns, Curanilahue, told national media.
Curanilahue, some 600 kilometres south of the capital Santiago, has been hit hard as the Curanilahue and Las Ranas rivers overflowed after the area received 350 millimetres of downpour more than in 2023 as a whole. Some 2,000 houses were damaged in the area due to massive rains.
President Gabriel Boric, in a message from Sweden where he is currently on an official visit, said that the rains will continue very strongly. Interior Minister Carolina Toha, before boarding a plane to visit the affected region, said a state of catastrophe had been announced in five regions to expedite the deployment of resources.
Senapred said the rains have affected some 3,300 people, down from an initial estimate of 4,300. In Santiago, which also saw rains, schools were closed for a day and authorities urged people to limit their movements.
In the city of Vina del Mar, experts worked to save a 12-story apartment building from collapse after the rains caused a massive sinkhole beneath it. According to the weather service, a cold front over the country was accompanied by something called an “atmospheric river” an area of air carrying huge amounts of moisture.
