A person walks along a street flooded after the Bellavista Canal overflowed in the Mirador de la Hacienda neighborhood of La Serena, Chile, on Monday. President Jose Antonio Kast declared a state of constitutional exception of catastrophe for the Coquimbo Region and Huasco province in response to the damage caused by the frontal system. Photo by Hernan Contreras/EPA
July 24 (UPI) -- A storm system associated with the El Niño phenomenon that affected much of Chile has left at least 13 people dead, four missing, nearly 65,000 people affected and economic losses estimated at more than $700 million, according to the latest official figures and an analysis by consulting firm Colliers.
Heavy rainfall, flooding, strong winds and snowfall affected 10 of the country's 16 regions for more than five days. At the peak of the emergency, more than 658,128 people were left without electricity, according to the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service, the Chilean agency responsible for coordinating emergencies.
"What normally falls in a month came down in one hour," Deputy Interior Minister Máximo Pavez told reporters, referring to the rainfall that hit the Coquimbo region.
In Santiago, meanwhile, 4.01 inches of rain fell over three days, more than the city's average rainfall for the entire month of July, according to a study by consulting firm Unholster. It was the highest total since 2002 and one of the 10 most intense storms to hit the Chilean capital.
