Chile storm: officials report 31 people affected and 179 in shelters as red alert stays in place for Santiago region

A frontal system bringing heavy rain to central Chile has left 31 people classed as affected (“damnificados”) and 179 in shelters, Chile’s disaster agency Senapred said on Wednesday 21 October, according to T13 and El Periodista. Of those sheltered, 105 are in the Santiago Metropolitan Region and 74 in Coquimbo, Senapred director Alicia Cebrián said. She said 40 people were cut off in Los Vilos.

Senapred reported three homes destroyed, two in Valparaíso and one in Coquimbo, 29 with major damage, mainly in the Metropolitan Region and O’Higgins, 78 with minor damage and 13 under assessment. More than 14,000 customers were without power nationally, Cebrián said. The figures cited did not include any deaths.

A red alert remains in force for the Metropolitan Region and for Arauco in Biobío, El Periodista reported. El Mostrador said 152 families in Arauco were ordered to evacuate as a precaution after a sinkhole appeared, and a rising Mapocho river prompted evacuations in Talagante. Interior Minister Claudio Alvarado said on Tuesday that damage had been “minor” but “the emergency continues”, Cooperativa reported.

Citing the national weather service, Cebrián said the heaviest rain and possible thunderstorms were expected between the Maule and Biobío regions, with a chance of waterspouts and tornadoes from Maule to La Araucanía.

The storm follows an 8 October mudslide in Santiago’s Las Condes district, which the Interior Ministry declared a disaster zone. Senapred said then that 1,200 people were rescued, six injured and none killed, La Tercera reported.