MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Over 1.200 Chileans flloded out of homes in South

As rain continues to pour on Chile's central and southern regions this week, more than 1.200 people were forced to flee their towns in southern Chile, as of Thursday, when their homes were flooded.

As rain continues to pour on Chile's central and southern regions this week, more than 1.200 people were forced to flee their towns in southern Chile, as of Thursday, when their homes were flooded. Chile's National Emergency Office (ONEMI) kept an eye on Regions V and X with an Early Prevention Alert this week and shut down a dozen ports along Chile's coast. Most ports were not allowed to let small ships come and go, including those in Puerto Montt, Valdivia and Quellòn. The ports in Corral in Region XIV are shut off to any shipments until rains die down. Region X - Los Lagos - suffered the most damage this week when 1,023 Chileans fled their homes after the Rahue and Bueno Rivers flooded much of the region, ONEMI reported. Almost 26 mm of rain hit Puerto Montt between Wednesday and Thursday, and the Rio Llico flooded out the small town of Fresia. The Rio Bueno flooded the roads of San Pablo, which is now only accessible via the river. "We have some people sheltered in the Los Lagos Region, but the rest have been displaced to families' houses," ONEMI chief Miguel Muñoz told Chilean daily La Tercera. Still, he expects the rains to die down nationwide this weekend. "The big problem that we have now is in the town of Purranque, where the water collection system collapsed. That flooded almost 200 houses," said Muñoz. In the lifeless town of Chaitén, where earlier this year the volcano of the same name erupted and forced inhabitants to evacuate (ST May 12), at least 300 mm of rain fell in seven days. Already sunken deserted houses have been stuck in mud since the Rio Blanco broke and mixed with volcano ash weeks ago. Just north of Los Lagos in Region IX Araucania, 500 people were trapped in the town of Tolten as floods engulfed the roads. Authorities were able to evacuate 120 people from the region. Farther south in Region XIV Los Rios highway control officials had to clear the icy blockages on the road Valdivia Corral. Wet weather is expected to lead into next week across the country with a short break this weekend. Officials say they hope the worst has already passed. Despite severe flooding in three southern regions, Interior Minister Edmundo Pérez Yoma said the situation in the south is "totally controlled." "Fortunately, the bad weather front is declining, and you know that the drainage in the south works very well," Pérez Yoma said. "As a result, some places that are in danger of flooding or washing away are going to be resolved quickly." "Another front is coming this weekend and I hope it will be more benign than what has already passed," he added. "The fundamental problem was that a lot of water fell in a very short period of time, but the truth is the situation is totally controlled." The Santiago Times