Environment Climate change

Roads like rivers, the effects of Cyclone Yaku in Peru

The streets of many Peruvian cities become waterways, houses are dragged away by the force of floods, the dead are at least 6. Cyclone Yaku is just the latest in a series that is ravaging Latin America with unusual force.

14/03/2023

Reuters

Cyclone Yaku hit northern Peru with torrential rains, triggering landslides and floods that dragged buildings, cars and entire neighborhoods into the mud. At least 6 people died.

In the province of Lima, the capital, the houses near the Chillon river were hit at dawn by a muddy torrent that left no time for the inhabitants to rescue their belongings. At least 29 homes were destroyed, about 50 families lost everything. Even in the coastal city of Trujillo, images show flooded roads and enormous damage.

Cyclone Yaku is just the latest in a series that has hit Peru. President Dina Boluarte, already under pressure from the harsh street protests that have been sweeping the country for months, has declared a state of emergency in 400 districts. Around 60 people have already lost their lives as a result of increasingly disastrous bad weather, whose unusual force is also due to the effects of climate change.