Chile Storm Claims 10 Lives, Triggers State of Catastrophe

A violent storm battering Chile has claimed at least ten lives and left nearly 100,000 people cut off from communication, according to an updated government toll. Authorities have declared a state of catastrophe in parts of the north and deployed the army to aid in rescue efforts.

The storm, which commenced on July 15, has severely impacted the northern regions of Coquimbo and Atacama, areas unaccustomed to such extreme precipitation. National Emergency Service Director Alicia Cebrián reported ten deaths, four disappearances, and 17 injuries, with 2,422 people displaced. The extreme weather has also damaged or destroyed around 2,200 homes, leaving over 100,000 residents isolated.

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We count ten dead, four missing and 17 injured. There are 2,422 people affected.

Flooding from overflowing rivers has severed roads connecting numerous villages, further isolating communities. In rural Coquimbo, approximately 460 km north of Santiago, the army has used tractors to rescue stranded residents and helicopters to evacuate people from rooftops. Local media have broadcast images of these operations.

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The neighborhoods are covered in mud and water, flooded. People have lost everything: their homes, their belongings. They are very distressed.

Coquimbo Governor Cristóbal Juliá described neighborhoods "covered in mud and water, flooded. People have lost everything: their homes, their belongings. They are very distressed." Chilean President José Antonio Kast declared a state of catastrophe in northern Chile, enabling the military's deployment, restricting movement, and expediting humanitarian aid delivery. The declaration was prompted by the worsening situation in Coquimbo and the Huasco province.

Officials described the rainfall as anomalous and extreme, with the amount typically received in a month falling in just one hour. The Director of Chile's Meteorological Directorate noted that the country had not experienced such an extensive storm in two decades.

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The quantity of rain that usually falls in a month fell (yesterday) in one hour, which allows us to qualify this event as abnormal and extreme precipitation.