On Thursday afternoon, 8 October, a flash flood hit the San Carlos de Apoquindo sector, injuring six people, including a one-year-old child with fractures.
Ouest France says at least one person died in a flooded underground passage on Friday, while watson reports no known fatalities and cites at least eight injured.
France 24 reports 600 homes evacuated in Las Condes and 600 in Talagante, while firefighters rescued or assisted more than 1,000 people, six of them taken to health facilities.
Senapred director Alicia Cebrián said there was no time to anticipate the flood, and Senator Fabiola Campillai announced a formal request to Senapred over the missing SAE alerts.
Senapred's preliminary Friday count shows 75 homes with serious damage and 2,285 with minor damage, and red alerts were issued for ten communes.
On Thursday afternoon, 8 October, a flash flood swept through the San Carlos de Apoquindo sector of Las Condes, a wealthy district in eastern Santiago known for luxury hotels and a busy restaurant scene. The torrent of water and mud carried away dozens of vehicles, which became trapped in the sludge and debris, as videos shared on social media show. Passengers took refuge on the roof of a bus to escape the water, and a one-year-old child suffered fractures. The flood came during a week of heavy rain linked to El Niño. Interior Minister Claudio Alvarado said almost 100 millimetres had fallen during the week, with a pulse of 15 to 20 millimetres on Thursday afternoon that set off the flood.
“This event has its origin in a precipitation accumulated in short spaces of time. During the week almost 100 millimetres accumulated, and with the pulses that occurred yesterday afternoon, of between 15 and 20 millimetres, this problem is generated.”
Early reports counted six injured, a figure given by ANSA, EL PAÍS and BBC, while watson cited the local fire brigade for at least eight injured. Ouest France reports that at least one person died after being found in a flooded underground passage on Friday, while watson says no fatalities were known at the time of its report. France 24 reports 600 homes evacuated in Las Condes and a further 600 in Talagante, southwest of the capital, where the evacuated households were sheltered in two schools. Firefighters rescued or assisted more than 1,000 people in Santiago, six of whom were taken to health facilities, according to fire commander Giorgio Tromben. Water also entered the first floors of the Clínica UC Christus, and at least six patients were evacuated from it.
The Sistema de Alerta de Emergencia (SAE), which sends warnings to mobile phones, was not activated before the flood. Senapred director Alicia Cebrián said there was no possibility of anticipated evacuations in Las Condes and that everything done was a response to what was happening at the time.
“This was a sudden event that happened in a very short period of time with a high impact. There was no time to anticipate a condition like this, even though this frontal system had been monitored and reported to the public well in advance.”
Opposition senator Fabiola Campillai said she would file a formal request with Senapred over the missing SAE alerts and would ask for measures to prevent a similar situation in the foothills of the capital.
“No family should learn of a flash flood when it is already on top of them.”
President José Antonio Kast declared Las Condes a catastrophe zone, a measure that EL PAÍS reports also covers San José de Maipo, Puente Alto, Pirque, La Florida, Peñalolén, La Reina, Lo Barnechea, Vitacura and Colina. ANSA reports that red alerts were issued for ten communes at the foot of the Andes. The army deployed crews to remove stones and mud and drain water from homes on the slope. Senapred's preliminary count, delivered Friday morning and described by its director as subject to update, recorded 75 homes with serious damage and 2,285 with minor damage. Las Condes mayor Catalina San Martín reported 40 homes with serious damage and 1,960 with minor damage in San Carlos de Apoquindo, and firefighters put the affected area at around 200 hectares.
Data from the article text
Ouest France reports that 74 millimetres fell on Santiago in the first seven days of October, making it the wettest October in 76 years, according to meteorologists. The Dirección Meteorológica de Chile (DMC) forecasts a cloudy but dry Saturday 10 October and Sunday 11 October, with light, isolated rain possible overnight on Monday 12 October, a public holiday. A DMC warning for probable thunderstorms in the central zone has been in force since 7 October and covers the Metropolitan Region. Rain is expected to return to Santiago next week, though its magnitude has not yet been announced.
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Heavy rain linked to El Niño sent a flash flood through Santiago's Las Condes on Thursday, and officials reported 2,285 homes with minor damage by Friday morning.
AI text based on reports by France 24, BBC, EL PAÍS and other publishers. Changed .