Chilean President José Antonio Kast declared a state of catastrophe across northern Chile on Sunday, upgrading the government's response after a devastating storm system killed at least five people and left four others missing.
The emergency declaration covers the Coquimbo region and Huasco province in Atacama, where torrential rains triggered landslides and cut off road access. Civil protection authorities say the storm has damaged more than 17,000 homes and isolated roughly 100,000 residents. In La Serena, the mayor reported eleven people missing. Coquimbo received a month's worth of rainfall in a single day.
Some 20,000 people have been relocated and more than 250,000 remain without power. A new storm system is expected within hours.