Government officials are preparing for a heavy tropical storm or worse in New Orleans by Friday, as floods and heavy rains have battered the region for the past few hours, according to the United States' National Weather Service, which has warned that hurricane conditions were possible along the Gulf Coast as a potential tropical cyclone moved closer to land.
Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru plan to work with the World Bank to launch a new bond to cover losses in the event of extreme weather, Peru's finance minister said.
Torrential rains in central and southern Uruguay in the past several days have caused massive floods and forced some 7,400 people to leave their homes, according to the latest update by the country's National Emergency System.
Intense floods in Latin America's business hub Sao Paulo, which turned roads into rivers and tossed cars atop buildings and into trees, have killed at least 11 people, with authorities bracing for more rain.
Intense rainfall in northeast Argentina and neighbouring areas in Mercosur members has caused devastating floods, amplifying the economic burdens of Argentina's recession. Over 5,000 people have evacuated the region, and millions of hectares of crops have been sent underwater.
At least ten people were killed on Saturday when a hillside collapsed in a poor neighborhood near Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The mudslide buried six homes in the municipality of Niteroi following days of heavy rains in the area. Among those killed were a 3-year-old child and a 10-month-old baby.
Frost and a lack of rain could scale back Argentina's wheat crop for the 2018-19 season, which is currently seen at a record 19.7 million tons, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Thursday.
There's a 70% chance of a recurrence of the El Niño weather event before the end of this year, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The last El Niño occurred in 2015-16 and impacted weather patterns around the world, but researchers say they are not expecting this new one to be as intense as 2015-16.
A rare snowfall was seen across parts of Uruguay on Sunday while graupel resulted in an icy coating across parts of eastern Argentina.
A man and his teenage son died with electrocution during a storm that struck Buenos Aires City and the metropolitan area on Sunday dawn and morning. Winds blowing at over 130 kilometers and massive rainfall, 120 millimeters, caused the collapse of roofs and publicity billboards, trees and lamp posts were knocked down, plus extensive flooding and power cuts that affected thousands of clients. An estimated 2.500 people had to be evacuated and even more had to abandon their homes.