Chile floods kill 10 as El Nino rain cuts off over 100,000 people

Santiago,UPDATED: Jul 21, 2026 23:40 IST

Weeklong rainstorms blamed on El Nino have killed at least 10 people in Chile, with authorities racing to reach more than 100,000 people cut off by flash floods in one of the country’s worst weather disasters in decades.

Torrential rain and strong winds continued to batter the country, while swollen rivers, flooded roads and damage to homes and basic services added to the crisis. Authorities said 16 people have been injured and more than 4,000 displaced.

The usually arid northern regions of Atacama and Coquimbo were among the worst hit, prompting the government of President Jose Antonio Kast to declare a state of emergency on Monday. According to authorities, 1,031 displaced people are staying in emergency shelters, while thousands of others have been left without electricity or drinking water.

The rainfall has destroyed 81 homes and damaged more than 20,000 others. Chile’s national disaster response service, Senapred, has issued hundreds of evacuation alerts across 10 of the country’s 16 regions. Senapred said 104,271 people have been stranded by overflowing rivers and flooded roads, and warned that rivers could remain dangerous even after the rain eases.

“River levels do not necessarily rise at the same time precipitation is falling,” Senapred chief Alicia Cebrian said. “Water accumulates in the foothill areas, which means river levels can continue rising even hours after the storm system has passed.” Meteorologists have linked the deluge to the return of El Nino, a naturally occurring phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean that raises temperatures and worsens extreme weather. It is typically associated with heavier rainfall in parts of southern South America, and in Chile it has deepened a crisis that has left people dead, injured, displaced and cut off.

With PTI Inputs

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