Chile has decreed a state of catastrophe in several regions due to severe flooding in the center and south of the country caused by a storm this weekend.
The Minister of the Interior, Carolina Toha, announced this Saturday the “decree of catastrophe zone in all the affected regions, from Valparaíso to Biobío.”
According to the official, the measure “allows that once the emergency resources that are foreseen have been spent, additional resources can be resorted to.” The state of catastrophe allows certain administrative processes to be expedited, said Toha.
The heavy rains affecting central Chile have left at least two dead and three missing. At the national level, there are a total of 419 homeless people, 1,002 sheltered, 139 homes with minor damage, 99 homes with major damage, 15 homes totally destroyed, and 2,759 people isolated, according to reports from the Ministry of the Interior.
In this regard, Toha said that the Ministry of Social Development, together with the Interior, will announce which will be the aid mechanisms for the affected people, “but certainly for people who have lost their homes, emergency housing will be available.”
The minister added that work continues in all the regions affected by the emergency, especially to find the missing and rescue those who are isolated because of the water.
The Regional Presidential Delegations and the National Service for the Prevention and Attention of Disasters (Senapred) declared red alert in the regions of Ñuble and Maule.
Heavy rains over the weekend caused the overflowing of the Mapocho and Maipo rivers, which originate in the Los Andres mountain range and flow through the capital Santiago. The Cachapoal, Tinguiririca, and Teno rivers also overflowed in the central zone.
River flows continue to increase, reaching low areas despite the fact that rains have decreased in the mountain range of the Valparaíso, Metropolitan and O’Higgins regions this Sunday, according to weather reports.
Source : teleSur
