Chile Storm Forces Evacuations and Red Alerts From Maule to La Araucanía

Intense Storm System Triggers Red Alerts Across Chile’s Center-South

Senapred national director Alicia Cebrián reported that monitoring by the Dirección General de Aguas identified eight monitoring stations exceeding red thresholds and 19 surpassing yellow thresholds. The active emergency has left two people dead in Panguipulli, alongside 1,399 damnified individuals, 156 people sheltered, 5,936 isolated residents, and tens of thousands of utility customers without power. According to data from the Superintendencia de Electricidad y Combustibles (SEC), a total of 23,104 clients remain without electricity in the corridor stretching from O’Higgins to Los Lagos.

Severe Impacts and Flooding Recorded in Maule and Biobío

In the Maule region, officials maintained a regional red alert alongside specific red alerts for potential overflows in Cauquenes and Parral. The coastal commune of Constitution emerged as one of the hardest-hit areas, where heavy rainfall dumped 36 millimeters of water in a single hour, triggering secondary basins and causing three major sinkholes according to government figures. Local tracking noted that rainfall totals reached between 45 and 50 mm in under an hour along the Maule coast, overwhelming drainage networks and producing at least six large-scale sinkholes and severe flooding as detailed by Cooperativa. More than 400 homes sustained damage across the Maule coast due to the storm and subsequent mudflows in residential neighborhoods.

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In the Biobío region, overflowing rivers and inundations struck the communes of Arauco, Cañete, Curanilahue, Nacimiento, Quilleco, Santa Bárbara, Penco, and Coronel. The Andalién River breached its banks near the Chaimávida sector in Concepción. In the Province of Arauco, provincial delegate Pedro Marileo reported that approximately 3,127 people were impacted by the storm system, accounting for 612 homes with minor damage, 211 with major damage, and one destroyed house in Cañete. In Dichato, located within the commune of Tomé, mudflows and overflowing waterways damaged roughly 250 houses and destroyed at least two dwellings, with residents reporting over 180 homes infiltrated by thick layers of mud.

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Evacuations and Escalating Crisis in La Araucanía

La Araucanía remains severely impacted, with over 14,000 people affected across the region. Senapred issued multiple emergency alerts and utilized the Sistema de Alerta de Emergencia (SAE) messaging service to direct immediate evacuations. Authorities ordered residents to evacuate the Villa Portales and Villa Damas sectors in Carahue due to the overflowing Damas River, and issued an evacuation notice for the Las Encinas population sector in Lumaco following a dangerous landslide reported by Radarbiobio. Senapred additionally issued preventive alerts for Nueva Imperial, urging the public to avoid the swollen banks of the Imperial, Cholchol, and Cautín rivers.

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In Angol, overflowing waterways submerged entire residential developments, leaving floodwaters reaching waist-high levels inside homes. Municipal leaders described the disaster as historic, with Angol Mayor Enrique Neira pressing the central government for direct financial assistance through family bonuses. To manage the crisis in Angol, where preventive street closures were enacted due to the floods, authorities deployed 90 firefighters, reinforced later by 50 additional volunteers and units from the Chilean Army to assist with ongoing evacuations. Across the region, 11 communes suspended classes, while local agricultural authorities and farmers requested an agricultural emergency declaration in Malleco province to address heavy livestock and crop losses.