A sudden and abnormal warming of Pacific waters off Peru has unleashed the deadliest downpours in decades, with landslides and raging rivers sweeping away people, clogging highways and destroying crops in a potential sign of a global El Nino pattern this year.
At least 62 people have died and more than 70,000 have become homeless as Peru's rainy season has delivered 10 times as much rainfall than usual, authorities said Friday.
About half of Peru has been declared in emergency to expedite resources to the hardest hit areas, mostly in the north where rainfall has broken records in several districts, said Prime Minister Fernando Zavala.
Peru is bracing itself for another month of flooding.
A local El Nino phenomenon, the warming of surface sea temperatures in the Pacific, will likely continue along Peru's northern coast at least through April, said Dimitri Gutierrez, a scientist with Peru's El Nino committee.
Local El Ninos in Peru tend to be followed by the global El Nino phenomenon, which can trigger flooding and droughts in different countries, said Gutierrez.
The U.S. weather agency has put the chances of an El Nino developing in the second half of 2017 at 50-55 percent.
While precipitation in Peru has not exceeded the powerful El Nino of 1998, more rain is falling in shorter periods of time - rapidly filling streets and rivers, said Jorge Chavez, a general tasked with coordinating the government's response.
"We've never seen anything like this before," said Chavez. "From one moment to the next, sea temperatures rose and winds that keep precipitation from reaching land subsided."
Some scientists have said climate change will make El Ninos more frequent and intense.
In Peru, apocalyptic scenes recorded on cellphones and shared on social media have broadened the sense of chaos.
A woman caked in mud pulled herself from under a debris-filled river earlier this week after a mudslide rushed through a valley where she was tending to crops.
Bridges have collapsed as rivers have breached their banks, and cows and pigs have turned up on beaches after being carried away by rivers.
"There's no need to panic, the government knows what it's doing," President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said in a televised event, urging people to stay clear of rivers.
In Lima, the capital, classes have been suspended and running water has been restricted after treatment systems were clogged - prompting a rush on bottled water that produced shortages at some supermarkets.
The vast majority of people affected by the extreme weather are poor, including many who built makeshift homes on floodplains that had been dry for 20 years, said Chavez.
"There's no electricity, no drinking water...no transit because streets are flooded," said Valentin Fernandez, mayor of the town Nuevo Chimbote.
Chavez said Peru must rethink its infrastructure to prepare for the potential "tropicalization" of the northern desert coast, which some climate models have forecast as temperatures rise.
"We need more and better bridges, we need highways and cities with drainage systems," said Chavez. "We can't count on nature being predictable."
Reuters
Sat Mar 18 2017
Aerial view after a massive landslide and flood in the Huachipa district of Lima, Peru, March 17, 2017. REUTERS/Guadalupe Pardo
Langkah menoktahkan kemiskinan tegar di Sabah antara tumpuan Dewan Rakyat
Ahli Parlimen Kinabatangan, Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin meminta Menteri Ekonomi menyatakan langkah tersebut pada sesi jawab lisan.
Kerajaan cadang perkenal pembiayaan swasta pastikan kemampanan sektor air
Kerajaan menyasarkan untuk memperkenalkan pembiayaan swasta alternatif bagi memastikan kemampanan kewangan program sektor air.
[INFOGRAFIK] Tarikh-tarikh penting Istiadat Pertabalan Yang Di-Pertuan Agong ke-17
Berikut adalah info berkenaan dengan tarikh-tarikh penting Istiadat Pertabalan Yang Di-Pertuan Agong ke-17
Menendez didapati bersalah ke atas 16 pertuduhan rasuah
Juri di Mahkamah Persekutuan Manhattan membacakan keputusannya pada Selasa selepas berbincang selama lebih 12 jam selama tiga hari.
Tindakan keras terhadap penjualan racun makhluk perosak haram - CAP
CAP menggesa Lembaga Racun Makhluk Perosak segera mengambil tindakan keras terhadap penjualan racun makhluk perosak haram di negara ini dan menguatkuasakan dengan tegas Akta Racun Perosak 1974.
SDG: UTP lahir pelajar berkemahiran, tinggi tanggungjawab sosial
UTP berhasrat mendidik pelajar bukan sahaja untuk mahir dalam aspek teknikal tetapi juga untuk menjadi warganegara yang bertanggungjawab dari segi kemahiran dan keupayaan sosial.
RUU 355: Pindaan perlu untuk praktikaliti, keadilan
Apa sahaja pindaan terhadap akta itu perlu berjalan selari dengan persediaan mereka yang bertanggungjawab melaksanakannya, seperti mahkamah syariah, pegawai penguatkuasa agama dan peguam syarie.
Kerajaan teliti kaedah baharu lantikan tetap
Kerajaan sedang meneliti kaedah baharu lantikan tetap bagi memastikan pengurusan kewangan negara yang lebih mampan.
Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri (Wilayah Persekutuan), Dr Zaliha Mustafa berkata hasil kajian tersebut akan dibentangkan kepada Jemaah Menteri untuk pertimbangan dan kelulusan.
Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri (Wilayah Persekutuan), Dr Zaliha Mustafa berkata hasil kajian tersebut akan dibentangkan kepada Jemaah Menteri untuk pertimbangan dan kelulusan.
PDRM gerak unit skuba forensik, K9 cari bukti hari ini
Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) akan menggerakkan unit skuba (Unit Forensik) serta Unit Anjing Pengesan (K9) ke lokasi penemuan mayat Nur Farah Kartini Abdullah, 25, di Kampung Sri Kledang, Hulu Selangor, pagi esok.
Timbalan Ketua Polis Daerah Hulu Selangor DSP Mohd Asri Mohd Yunus ketika dihubungi Bernama berkata proses mencari bahan bukti akan dimulakan sekitar jam 9 pagi di kawasan parit berhampiran ladang kelapa sawit berkenaan.
Timbalan Ketua Polis Daerah Hulu Selangor DSP Mohd Asri Mohd Yunus ketika dihubungi Bernama berkata proses mencari bahan bukti akan dimulakan sekitar jam 9 pagi di kawasan parit berhampiran ladang kelapa sawit berkenaan.
Dewan Rakyat: Langkah meknoktahkan kemisikan tegar di Sabah antara tumpuan hari ini
Langkah-langkah untuk meknoktahkan kemiskinan tegar di Sabah terutamanya di lapan daerah yang dikategorikan termiskin di Malaysia antara tumpuan persidangan Dewan Rakyat hari ini.
Dua maut, 4,000 terjejas akibat banjir di Colombia
Hujan lebat membanjiri kawasan savana yang luas di bawah air menyebabkan tanaman dan tanah ladang musnah.
Perubahan iklim punca tragedi banjir terburuk landa Brazil
Lebih 170 orang terbunuh dan hampir 580,000 kehilangan tempat tinggal selepas ribut dan banjir melanda Rio Grande do Sul bulan lalu.
El Nino: Pengeluaran durian berkurangan, pekebun jangka harga naik
Cuaca panas dan taburan hujan yang tidak menentu menyebabkan sebahagian besar bunga durian jadi kering dan buah cepat gugur sebelum matang.
Gelombang haba ragut 61 nyawa setakat ini di Thailand
Gelombang haba luar biasa dengan suhu yang dirasai melebihi 52 darjah Celsius setakat ini telah meragut 61 nyawa di Thailand.
Banjir luar biasa landa Afrika Timur
Kawasan di Ethiopia, Kenya dan Tanzania yang biasanya gersang serta dilanda kemarau mengalami taburan hujan luar biasa.
El Nino: Bekalan lembu, kambing korban mencukupi - Mohamad Sabu
Bekalan lembu dan kambing bagi keperluan sambutan Aildiladha adalah mencukupi biarpun negara berhadapan cuaca panas susulan fenomena El Nino.
Cuaca panas: Felda Tenang, Felda Belara rekod suhu lebih 37 darjah Celsius
Dua lokasi tersebut mencatatkan suhu terendah 37.3 darjah Celcius sementara suhu tertinggi 38.3 darjah Celcius.
Cuaca panas dunia bakal cecah suhu ekstrem
El Nino akan mendorong kurangnya hujan dan berlakunya episod kemarau yang lebih teruk daripada biasa.
Kerajaan Persekutuan lulus peruntukan beli pam baharu untuk petani, pesawah di Kelantan
Kerajaan Persekutuan meluluskan sejumlah peruntukan untuk membeli pam-pam baharu bagi kegunaan para petani dan pesawah di Kelantan.
Colombia bergelut masalah air, takungan negara kering
Fenomena El Nino melanda di Colombia pada penghujung 2023, menyebabkan suhu tinggi dan kemarau.