Heavy rains in Santiago highlight water shortage issues in Latin America

By Lucas Berti

To compound the misery of the coronavirus pandemic, Latin America was also battered by climate disasters throughout 2020. In Central America, the worst hurricane season on record caused hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars in damage. Weather conditions and human interference saw 27 percent of Brazil’s massive Pantanal wetlands destroyed by flames, while Paraguay endured its worst drought in half a century.

And the climate chaos shows no signs of letting up in 2021. At the end of January, the Chilean capital of Santiago recorded the highest rainfall in a single day for 88 years, causing damage across the city.

According to Chile’s national weather service, the capital recorded 31.4 millimeters of rain on January 30, breaking the all-time record for a single day in January. Climatologists from the University of Santiago say the previous record dated back to 1933, when 22.4 mm of rain fell in one day. 

Since the rains began on January 29, Chile’s National Office of Emergency (Onemi) — a...