A powerful storm battering Chile has claimed at least 10 lives, left four people missing, and isolated more than 100,000 residents due to road closures, according to the latest official report from the government, which has declared a state of catastrophe and deployed the military for rescue operations.
The Chilean Meteorological Service reported that the Coquimbo region has recorded between 155 and 287 millimeters of rainfall since Tuesday, with some areas receiving nearly double the total precipitation accumulated during all of 2025.
Chile had not faced such an extensive and prolonged storm in two decades.
According to that, President Jose Antonio Kast decreed a state of catastrophe for Coquimbo and the Huasco province in Atacama, located approximately 460 and 850 kilometers north of Santiago respectively, as the meteorological event continues to wreak havoc across the country’s central and northern zones.
The declaration of a state of catastrophe enables the deployment of military personnel, restrictions on freedom of movement, and faster allocation of relief resources. The armed forces are currently leading search and rescue operations while establishing emergency supply corridors to reach isolated communities.
A Region Underwater
“The region is literally under mud right now. We still have high-risk situations for people,” declared the governor of Coquimbo Cristobal Julia on Monday afternoon, describing a landscape of devastation where entire neighborhoods have been swallowed by floodwaters and debris.
Authorities report at least 2,200 homes destroyed or with structural damage, approximately 2,400 people directly affected, and more than 100,000 isolated residents. The flooding has blocked roads with water and mud, leaving several towns completely cut off from emergency services and supply routes.
In rural areas of Coquimbo, the Chilean army has deployed tractors to rescue people trapped by flooding and used helicopters to evacuate residents waiting on rooftops as waters rose. “There are neighborhoods full of mud, full of water, flooded. People have lost their homes, their belongings. There is great anguish,” Julia said.
The storm has also caused widespread disruption to public services. Approximately 150,000 people remain without electricity nationwide, according to the Ministry of Energy. In Coquimbo, flooding, mud and power outages have also interrupted drinking water supply across multiple communities.
The intensity of the downpour overwhelmed drainage systems and caused rivers to overflow their banks, triggering flash floods and landslides. Due to strong swells and wind gusts exceeding 100 km/h, dozens of ports had already restricted operations preventively last week.
Text reads: “The Under-Secretary of the Interior, Máximo Pavez, announced the shipment of about 9 tons of humanitarian aid from @Senapred to the Atacama Region, by instruction of the President of the Republic, José Antonio Kast, and in coordination with the two-minister Claudio Alvarado. The cargo, transported on a C-130 Hercules plane from the @FACh_Chile, will reinforce the emergency response by the frontal system in the north of the country. We continue to deploy all necessary resources to support affected families.”
Preparedness and Response
Authorities in central and northern Chile have been monitoring the situation closely, as sustained rainfall in these zones can overwhelm drainage systems and affect vulnerable communities. The meteorological service has issued alerts for several regions, urging residents to take precautions against potential flooding and landslides.
The director of the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred, in Spanish) Alicia Cebrian, confirmed the official toll: 10 fatalities, four missing persons, and 17 injured, warning that the numbers could rise as rescue teams reach previously inaccessible areas.
The unusual weather pattern serves as a reminder of the interconnected nature of global atmospheric systems, where conditions in the remote seas off Antarctica can have direct and immediate consequences for millions of people thousands of kilometers away on the Chilean coast.
Author: Laura V. Mor
Source: Chilean Meteorological Service / Agencies
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