Residents airlifted to safety after flooding in central Chile

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Watch: Houses underwater and families trapped by floodwaters in Chile

ByVanessa BuschschlüterLatin America online editor

Published28 minutes ago

Police in central Chile have airlifted several residents to safety after rising floodwaters left them trapped in their homes.

Recent torrential rains caused the Mapocho river to burst its banks, flooding large parts of the city of Talagante, 35km (22 miles) south-west of the capital, Santiago.

Santiago has seen 74mm of rainfall in the first seven days of this month, making it the rainiest October for the area in 76 years, meteorologists have said.

They have warned that this year's unusually strong El Niño climate phenomenon will likely continue to bring unusually wet weather, powerful winds and storms to the region during the southern hemisphere's spring.

Officials said one person had been found dead in a flooded underpass in the city of San Bernardo, south of Santiago, although they have yet to confirm the cause of death.

In Talagante, police used helicopters to rescue people and pets living on the banks of the Mapocho who had been surprised by the fast-rising waters overnight.

Dirt roads turned into rivers in the riverside community which, unlike in July's storms, had not been evacuated ahead of the heavy downpours.

A man on a horse takes a video of a helicopter hovering overhead. He is wearing wellington boots and his horse is standing in water. Another man stands nearby, with his back to the camera. The water reaches his knees. The photo was taken in Talagante, in the Metropolitan Region of Chile, on 7 October 2026.

Image source, Javier Torres/EPA/ShutterstockImage caption,

The Mapocho river in central Chile burst its banks after heavy rains

Climate experts have warned that the 2026-2027 El Niño is likely to cause major shifts in weather patterns around the world, intensifying droughts in some areas and floods in others.

In central Chile, it is expected to trigger above-average rainfall.