Floods in Chile have left dead, missing and thousands of people evacuated

Two dead, six missing7,977 people were quarantined and 3,383 infected Flooding due to rainfall in the central region of ChileInterior Minister Carolina Doe said on Sunday.

“The situation during the night (from Saturday to Sunday) indicated a significant improvement in most of the affected territories, but there are still very worrying situations,” the Chilean official said.

Doe said 54 houses were destroyed, 751 were severely damaged and 1,578 people were in shelters.

The Minister pointed out that the town of iqun in uble area was completely flooded. “There will be a major evacuation effort,” AFP news agency reported.

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Images taken from the air and televised from towns such as Coltacco and Ligandon show the extent of the crisis.

In the first of these, in the O’Higgins region, 120 kilometers south of Santiago, the discharge of the Cachabol River flooded 80% of the town and isolated 200 people.

In Licantn, in the Maule region and 210 km from the capital, there were 700 isolated people and all its buildings, including its hospital, were flooded due to the flooding of the Mataquito River.

The rivers that flow out of the river channels have caused interruptions in some of the main highways, such as the road connecting the country from north to south and the road from Santiago to the city and the port of Valparaíso.

It is also reported that railway bridges have been damaged due to the impact of rivers.

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Some of the flood-affected areas were hit by massive wildfires last summer, which destroyed 439,000 hectares and caused 26 deaths.

The heavy rains that started on Thursday accumulated within hours, especially in the Andes mountains and foothills, where snow usually falls. This caused strong erosion of the hills and a rapid increase in river flow, AFP concluded.