Cyclone Yaku leaves one dead in Peru and damages in Lima

People help to remove the mud in a street affected by the rains today, in the resort of Punta Hermosa in the south of Lima.

Photo: EFE – Paolo Aguilar

The heavy rains and avalanches generated by the presence of Cyclone Yaku in Lima and northern Peru left one dead, two missing and hundreds homeless in the last few hours, according to the authorities’ report.

In the capital, for example, a state of emergency was declared this week due to the imminent damage that Yaku could cause to the city’s infrastructure.

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The death of a 65-year-old man who had been reported missing in the Cieneguilla district, in the Huarochirí province of Lima, was confirmed this Thursday by the Police, in a day in which landslides and floods were repeated in some points of Lima, although with less force than in previous days.

The man became the first death confirmed by the rains and floods in the capital, which entered a red alert on Tuesday, but which has affected the north of the country since last week, with a report of 8 deaths. However, the winter in Peru has lasted since September in most regions of the country, leaving more than 58 dead and at least 12,000 homeless.

Although rainfall has decreased in Lima, new avalanches were reported in districts such as Chosica and Chaclacayo, causing material damage to homes and other infrastructure.

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The rains in the highlands have caused increased flows and river overflows, avalanches, house collapses and road closures, while on Thursday night leaks were reported in the wall that protects the Vía highway. Avoidance of the Rímac River, in the capital’s historic center.

The National Emergency Center (COEN) reported that in the northern region of Piura, 6 people were reported injured and 2 missing, as well as houses destroyed, after an avalanche fell in the district of Canchaque. The National Meteorology and Hydrology Service (Senamhi) forecast, for the next 24 hours, the activation of streams (in red level) in 68 provinces of the departments of Áncash, Apurímac, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cusco, Huancavelica, Huánuco, Ica, Junin, Lima, Loreto, Madre de Dios, Pasco, San Martin and Ucayali.

For his part, Defense Minister Jorge Chávez informed that 5,000 members of the Armed Forces are dedicated to responding to the emergency in the regions affected by the heavy rains.

The presence of Yaku has already increased the rainfall in northern Peru, which has generated large floods due to the overflow of rivers, as well as landslides in different regions of the country. For example, at the beginning of February of this year, a landslide generated by rainfall left 40 dead in Camaná, a city in the south of the country.

winter season

The presence of this type of cyclone is associated with the El Niño climatic phenomenon. “In Peru there was already a cyclone in 1982 and 1983 with El Niño and in 2017, but this time it is bigger,” meteorologist Raquel Loayza told radio on Friday. PTR.

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“This cyclone is weakening as the waters cool and it approaches the coast,” he added.

El Niño is a climatic phenomenon that causes overheating of the waters in the South American Pacific, hitting the coasts of Peru and Ecuador mainly with rains and floods.

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