Chile declares a state of catastrophe as floods cut off nearly 100,000 people
Northern Chile is under a state of catastrophe after days of storms: nearly 100,000 people isolated, thousands relocated and the heaviest rain in decades in Coquimbo and Atacama.
Northern Chile is officially under a state of catastrophe. After days of relentless wind and rain, president José Antonio Kast activated the emergency regime that puts the military in charge of relief operations in the hardest-hit areas — and the numbers explain why: nearly 100,000 people are cut off by blocked roads and damaged bridges.
The storm began battering the country on Wednesday and unleashed its worst where nobody expected it: Coquimbo and Atacama, regions where heavy rain is a statistical rarity. The driest desert on Earth sits right there — and that is where, according to the Chilean government, a month’s worth of rain fell in a single hour.
How many people are cut off in Chile?
Chilean authorities put the figure at around 100,000 people isolated, on top of tens of thousands relocated and at least five confirmed deaths as of Monday. Around 150,000 homes are without electricity and several municipalities have lost running water. Chile’s meteorological service says the country had not faced a storm this extensive in roughly two decades.
What is a state of catastrophe?
It is Chile’s constitutional tool for natural disasters: it allows the armed forces to be mobilised, movement to be restricted and aid to be fast-tracked. Official emergency information is centralised at Senapred, the national civil protection service, which keeps warnings and evacuation zones up to date.
It caps another black week for Latin America — this same month, the earthquakes in Venezuela passed five thousand deaths, including dozens of Portuguese victims. Chile’s Portuguese community is smaller, but the pattern worrying scientists is the same: extreme events landing on regions that were never built for them.
Image: See file history below for details. / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
