Public schools in San Pedro de la Paz, Coronel, Lota, Santa Juana, Talcahuano and Hualpén, in the Biobío region, will not hold classes this Friday, October 23, because of the frontal system affecting the area. The six comunas (Chilean municipal districts) are part of Greater Concepción, the urban area surrounding the regional capital.
According to BioBioChile, the Servicio Local de Educación Pública (SLEP) Andalién Costa, the state body that runs public schools in San Pedro de la Paz, Coronel, Lota and Santa Juana, ordered a full suspension of classes, to be made up later. It based its decision on the latest report issued on Thursday by the Servicio Nacional de Prevención y Respuesta ante Desastres (Senapred), Chile's national disaster prevention and response agency.
In Talcahuano, the Administración Provisional of the comuna's schools announced the suspension "due to adverse weather conditions". The Municipalidad de Hualpén (Hualpén's municipal government) and its Dirección Administrativa de la Educación Municipal extended the measure to schools, high schools and VTF nurseries (funded through transfers from the Junta Nacional de Jardines Infantiles, the national nursery school board).
The presidential delegate for Biobío, Julio Anativia, told Emol that the decision was made because rain is expected to continue throughout the night. According to the delegate, the region has 565 homes with minor damage and 1,215 customers without power, fewer than were recorded in the morning.
The sources do not specify how many students are left without classes or when the lost school day will be made up.
Senapred's regional director, Alejandro Sandoval, warned that rainfall will continue in the coming hours and that there is a likelihood of waterspouts and convective clouds with tornadic characteristics. "These are phenomena that develop quickly, are short-lived but very intense", he said, adding that they can be very destructive.
