The disaster in northern Chile that killed at least 6 people

Northern Chile was hit by torrential rains that killed at least six people and caused severe flooding and infrastructure damage.

The country's president, Sebastián Piñera, went on Friday in the area most affected by the rains and declared the province of El Loa, in Antofagasta, "a disaster zone".

"I decided to declare the disaster of El Loa and appoint General Rodrigo Valdivia to head this area to badume the command that the law gives," Piñera announced to reach the city of Calama in order to to badess the chaos left by the rains. The President regretted the loss of human lives.

Chile's National Geological and Mining Service has warned of the danger of alluvial deposits, landslides and landslides in the high and lowlands of the Andes.

Villages in the area were isolated by the rains, which damaged roads, homes and the countryside. Rivers have also been submerged and their cbads tend to be dry for most of the year due to their desert climate.

Diagnosis and evaluation

Piñera, who will remain in the north of the country until Sunday, has announced that a "diagnosis and a cadastre" of the damage occurred in the region will be specified Saturday.

"In terms of connectivity, bridges, roads, and in terms of drinking water supply, in terms of housing destruction and damage to agriculture," he said. he declares.

According to official data from the National Emergency Office (Onemi), the floods have killed at least six people.

In addition, 99 houses were destroyed, 142 suffered major damage and 123 others suffered minor damage, not to mention the many casualties, 144 of which were transferred to shelters.

Mine closure

For its part, state mining company Codelco announced on Friday that it had suspended the activities of its copper mines Chuquicamata and Ministro Hales as a precautionary measure.

In a statement, the largest copper producer in the world said that its deposits Radomiro Tomic and Gabriela Mistral continue to operate normally, but with preventive measures.

The winter altiplánico

The so-called winter altiplánico, which comes from Bolivia, makes that the storms generated at the altitude of the Bolivian altiplano also affect the plains of the desert of Atacama, in the north of Chile.

The rain in the Altiplano requires multiple factors that interact perfectly during the austral summer: a major continental warming, the circulation of humidity over kilometers and a meteorological system that leads this humidity to the highest plateaus of the world.

The term seems paradoxical since the phenomenon usually occurs between the months of December and March, corresponding to the austral summer.

According to the Chilean authorities, this year's altiplanic winter is more intense than usual.