A landslide affected homes in the Juan Riquelme area of Concepción, in the Biobío region, early Thursday morning. Mud flowed through the streets and entered some houses.
According to Cooperativa, at least three homes were affected, and cleanup work began in the afternoon. BioBioChile, however, reported that at least two houses were damaged. There is no official count yet.
According to Radio Bío Bío, Los Álamos street was left impassable by mud. Concepción's municipal authorities have yet to finish surveying the affected homes in the area.
Cooperativa attributed the mudslide to a heavy burst of rain after midnight. According to the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred), some stations recorded nearly 15 millimeters per hour.
Senapred's regional director, Alejandro Sandoval, explained that there were three intense bursts of rain in a very short period. "Between 12 midnight and 2 in the morning, we had an even more intense event," he said. He added that more than 80 millimeters fell in 24 hours in some parts of Greater Concepción.
Regional Presidential Delegate Julio Anativia provided an update following the Disaster Risk Management Committee (Cogrid) meeting. Across the region, 313 homes have minor damage, most of them in Hualpén, Penco and Talcahuano, municipalities neighboring Concepción. There were also thunderstorms and hail overnight.
Biobío remains under a Preventive Early Alert. The exception is the municipality of Arauco, about two hours south of Concepción, which is under a Red Alert for landslides because of the situation affecting homes in Villa El Mirador.
For Thursday, Sandoval forecast around 30 millimeters of rain and did not rule out a repeat of episodes like those seen in the early morning.
