Thunderstorms and heavy rain from the weather front that affected central Chile on Tuesday, October 13, knocked out traffic lights in nine municipalities in the Metropolitan Region. Several underpasses in the capital were also closed because of flooding.
According to CNN Chile, TransporteInforma, the road information platform of the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications, reported outages at intersections in Estación Central, Las Condes, Cerro Navia, La Pintana, San Joaquín, Providencia, Santiago, Pedro Aguirre Cerda and Huechuraba.
At 17:29, TransporteInforma's account on X (@TTISantiago) urged caution around traffic lights that were out and called on drivers to drive defensively when approaching those intersections.
The storm also flooded streets and caused more than 30,000 power outages. In response, the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) declared a red alert for the Metropolitan Region, effective from Tuesday for as long as conditions warrant.
Chilevisión detailed the status of underpasses based on the same TransporteInforma report. In Santiago and Estación Central, the underpasses at Exposición and Blanco Encalada, Lira beneath Alameda, and General Rondizzoni were closed, all because of flooding.
Ñuñoa had three closed underpasses: Carlos Dittborn, which was flooded, Dublé Almeyda and Eduardo Castillo Velasco, in the Villa Frei area. Also closed were Lo Valledor, in Pedro Aguirre Cerda, Departamental and Gran Avenida, in San Miguel, and Américo Vespucio and Las Torres, between Macul and Peñalolén.
Other underpasses remained operational. In San Bernardo, O'Higgins and Barros Arana, Las Acacias, La Divisa, Regina Gálvez, La Estancilla, Colón and Pinto, and Paso San José were open. The La Florida underpass beneath Walker Martínez and the Buin Alto Jahuel underpass were also open.
The Avenida Lo Espejo underpass, between General Velásquez and Route 5, remained open, although caution was advised because of sediment accumulation.
According to Chilevisión, hail also fell during the day, Metro stations and shopping centers flooded, and some pedestrians were swept away by currents in the streets. The sources do not report when the traffic lights would be restored or when the underpasses would reopen. The red alert remains in effect.