Report: Chile Blamed Climate Change For Deadly Landslides
Landslides close to the capital Santiago killed three people over the weekend. This deadly landslide in Santiago cut off water supplies to millions of homes.
The water supply of another 373 family members was also cut off after the rains swept away the local roads and bridges. The director of Chile's National Emergency Office, Richard Toro relayed the devastating news to the public.
According to Bloomberg, the heavy rains in the Andes mountains brought mud, rocks, and trees and these elements were cascading down the Maipo river. This was the third incident in four years owing to the temperatures' rising.
The landslides are among the latest natural disaster to hit the Latin American region for this year alone. It is also presumed that it could be linked to climate change. Not only the landslides but for the last two months, wildfires raged across the central south of the country, fanned by record high temperatures and a prolonged drought.
The director of Chile's National Emergency Office has relayed that Chile needs the infrastructure to face these situations. The country has to understand that global warming is already a reality. He warns this could repeat itself.
The local governor Claudio Orrego also said that due to climate change, the city is likely to see more heavy rains in the mountains. However, the local government has ordered Aguas Andinas to build a reservoir to assure the water supplies when the treatment plants can't operate, as reported by Trends Latinos
The local government said it would restore supplies throughout the day. Fifty percent of water services have been restored. Still, now the company has gained 0.8 percent to 344.89 pesos. On a different note, the government has stated that the landslides didn't reduce output at any of Chile's copper mines, including Los Bronces, managed by Anglo America Plc, and Andina, managed by state-owned Codelco.
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