The Chile’s Government raised the death toll to 13 this Wednesday as a powerful storm system continues to batter ten of the country’s 16 regions, with authorities reporting four people still missing.
According to the latest report from the National Service for Disaster Prevention and Response (Senapred, in Spanish), intense rainfall has left more than 63,000 people isolated, concentrated primarily in the northern regions of Atacama and Coquimbo, located 840 and 475 kilometers north of Santiago, respectively.
The storm’s devastation has been particularly severe in northern Chile, where the region’s desert geography -lacking vegetation and absorbent soils- has proven unable to handle the massive volumes of water that have fallen in recent hours.
Flash floods and mudslides have swept through communities, destroying homes and cutting off road access to entire townships. The death toll could have been higher had rescue teams not located three young individuals alive who had gone missing in an Andean canyon in the central zone, reducing the number of officially reported disappearances.
Thousands of residents remain without electricity across the country, particularly in the Valparaíso region on the central coast, where authorities have declared red alerts in four municipalities and suspended school classes due to the imminent risk of the Aconcagua River overflowing.
Text reads: “The worst storm in memory of Chile. Rivers overflowed and floods occurred due to heavy rains affecting mainly northern Chile. At least 13 people are dead, 2,200 injured and more than 60,000 isolated.”
The climate event, linked to the El Niño phenomenon, began last Thursday in the central-southern zone and progressively advanced northward, leaving isolated towns, flooded urban areas, landslides, eroded roadways, and wind gusts of up to 160 kilometers per hour in some locations. Water supply systems have also collapsed in multiple municipalities, compounding the humanitarian emergency.
Text reads: “Government declares: The constitutional state of emergency of catastrophe is extended to the commune of Tierra Amarilla (province of Copiapo, Atacama Region).”
New Front Approaching
According to the Meteorological Directorate of Chile (DMC), this storm ranks as “one of the most significant meteorological episodes recorded in recent years due to its geographic extension and intensity,” warning that a new frontal system is expected to arrive from the Maule region southward in the coming days.
Forecast models indicate that on July 23 a new atmospheric river will reach Chile’s central zone. However, meteorological authorities project it will weaken rapidly, with expected rainfall remaining within normal parameters. Precipitation is forecast to begin during the afternoon in valleys and coastal sectors from Valparaiso southward, with accumulations of 3 to 5 millimeters in Valparaiso, Santiago and Rancagua, and between 15 and 30 millimeters from the Maule to Biobio regions.
The emergency response continues across affected regions, with military and civil protection personnel deployed to reach isolated communities, restore critical infrastructure, and provide shelter to the thousands of families who have lost their homes or remain trapped by floodwaters and landslides. The full extent of the damage remains unknown as rescue teams struggle to access the hardest-hit areas.
Author: Laura V. Mor
Source: Agencies
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