2023-08-22 00:44:20
In Chile, strong storms caused flooding in some regions of the country
The Chilean government reported this Monday that two people died in the last few hours and nearly 30,000 are isolated due to the storm that has affected various regions of the center and south of the country since the weekend.
The Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, announced at a press conference that the deceased are a driver who fell on a tree on the timber route and a volunteer firefighter who lost his life on Sunday while trying to rescue an animal. in a river in the town of Cañete, Biobío region, located more than 550 kilometers south of the capital.
Firefighters work in an area flooded by heavy rains that hit the central-southern area of Chile, in Cabrero (REUTERS/Juan Gonzalez)Residents are evacuated amid overflows and rains in the central-southern region of Maule (Carabineros de Chile/Handout via Archyde.com)
The number of isolated people, for its part, increased considerably in the last hours from 5,500 to almost 30,000 due to the cutting of a bridge in the Maule region, more than 250 kilometers south of Santiago
The increase, Monsalve explained, “is fundamentally due to the loss of connectivity at the 3 Arcos Bridge, in the province of Linares, which left just over 24,000 people isolated due to the impact of the bridge, which substantially modified the number of isolated people at the national level”.
Residents work to protect themselves from the water in Cabrero (REUTERS/Juan Gonzalez) A child cries in front of his flooded house in the south-central zone of Chile, in Cabrero (REUTERS/Juan Gonzalez) Two young people help each other walk on the flooded street ( REUTERS/Juan González)
According to the latest report from the Disaster Risk Management Committee (Cogrid), so far close to 19,000 people have been preventively evacuated, 169 homes have major damage and there are 25 areas with red alert due to overflow threat.
In addition, classes have been suspended in regarding twenty towns in the central-southern part of the country.
Three cars were destroyed following a landslide as a result of heavy rains in Constitución, Chile (REUTERS/Sebastian Martinez) In addition to the dead and evacuees, there were also devastating floods and landslides (REUTERS/Sebastian Martinez) A local resident tries to rescue his car, with the help of local authorities, in Constitución (REUTERS/Sebastian Martinez)
“As of today, August 21, the rainfall will be concentrated between the O’Higgins and Bíobio regions, and we will have rainfall in Valparaíso and Metropolitana, which will be mainly concentrated on August 22,” Monsalve said.
A resident of the Maule region is evacuated by a Chilean police officer (Carabineros de Chile/Handout via REUTERS)Police officers move objects amid evacuations in Maule (Carabineros de Chile/Handout via REUTERS)
Given this scenario, President Gabriel Boric decreed on Monday a state of catastrophe from the O’Higgins region near Santiago to the Biobío region. “This allows greater ease and flow of resources, having all the necessary safeguards,” said the president when announcing the measure during a tour of the Maule region, where it has rained since the weekend and will continue to rain for the next few years. days.
The government had already declared a catastrophe during the previous storm, which also affected the El Teniente mine of the state-owned Codelco copper company, located in a mountainous area near Santiago in the O’Higgins region. The current event has not caused any disruptions so far, according to the company.
The Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, declared a state of catastrophe for the center-south zone of the country (EFE / Presidency of Chile)
The rains have fallen heavily in mountainous areas, which increases the risks of river flooding, thaws, landslides and landslides, alerted the authorities.
This is the second episode of intense rainfall that the southern winter has left in the center-south of the country following the one that occurred at the end of June, which affected thousands of people.
With information from EFE and Archyde.com
Keep reading:
18 Shocking Images Of Storm Hilary Flooding: Warning In Los Angeles And Southern California Atlantic Hurricane Season Intensifies With Three Active Storms The Moment A California Highway Breaks Down From Hurricane Hilary
1692672560
#Shocking #images #floods #left #dead #people #evacuated #Chile
