Santiago, Chile (EFE) at this beginning of the southern winter, and which has already left two dead and six missing, the authorities said.
The situation is also a consequence of the effects of the El Niño phenomenon, which, according to experts, is returning with unprecedented and historic force.
“It is an event that one could expect more frequently as a result of climate change because the zero isotherm is rising, some speak of 100, 200 meters, and therefore it is raining in areas where it used to snow,” Pablo Sarricolea, a scientist at Efe, explained to EFE. the University of Chile.
According to the professor, it is entirely plausible that it is linked to the start of El Niño since “the temperature in the equatorial Pacific is already setting a trend towards this phenomenon with a high probability that it will affect this winter.”
“But there is no single suspect, the El Niño phenomenon could be one, climate variability as a whole could be number two and climate change would have to be reviewed, but I would put it as number three,” he added.
In this context, Australian and New Zealand scientists have warned that we are facing an unusual situation and that the fact that the temperature of the tropical Pacific oceans is 0.8°C above average, compared to previous events, makes that along with other reasons we find ourselves a “super child”.
Two dead, six missing and 8,000 people isolated
According to the balance delivered this Sunday by the Chilean Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, since the frontal system was unleashed, two people have died from its effects, six more are missing while it is estimated that there are more than 8,000 isolated people in different areas of the country.
In addition, 1,578 have been transferred to shelters and 3,383 have suffered some type of damage. While 54 homes have been completely destroyed, 751 suffer major damage and 1,951 minor.
“We spent a better night,” although the situation is still critical, particularly in the central region of El Maule, “where the most complex is.”
The minister referred to the tragedy in the town of Licantén, an image of desolation, with residents trapped on the roofs and completely flooded.
The situation on the roads is also worrying, with three bridges damaged on Route 5 Pan-American.
Isolated Mapuche populations
The rains fell hard in the Chilean capital last Thursday and Friday, overflowing rivers, creating large torrents and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people, mainly in the foothills, partly due to the virulence and amount of water falling on few hours but also due to neglect and lack of infrastructure.
An example is the Mapocho River, which has crossed the capital from west to east for years as a simple trickle of water. And that on Thursday he went down brave and overwhelmed, in an image that had not been repeated in twenty years.
However, today the flow was again minimal, with thousands of liters wasted towards the sea, which have flooded entire neighborhoods and caused road and traffic closures.
The authorities announced on Friday a cut in the supply of drinking water that finally did not occur but that pushed the inhabitants of the capital to the supermarkets to stock up on water.
Situation of Chileans due to the rains
In the central region of Biobio, one of the most affected, various populations have appealed to the press to save their situation. They have been isolated for several days by water, with little food and no possibility of leaving unless they are rescued by air, and with women, the elderly and children in an emergency situation, Yoselyn Mulchen explained to Efe.
“We are totally isolated, we live on the other side of the river. We are with the river reaching the houses and more the floods that come from the mountain, ”he explained.
“The river currently passes where the animals grazed, so they were left with little forage. Two horses, 20 sheep, birds and some pigs were rescued and the pellet got wet, ”he added.