Peruvian authorities recovered the bodies of a father and son killed by a mudslide in Arequipa after intense rains triggered a broader flooding crisis affecting roughly 5,500 homes across the country’s southern region on Monday. The deaths mark the first confirmed fatalities from the disaster, which authorities attributed to the El Niño Costero climate phenomenon.
The two men were swept away by the mudslide in a neighborhood built directly over an ancient natural watercourse. Experts said the homes were constructed across a path that has carried torrents of water for centuries during periods of heavy rain.
Warming Pacific waters are fueling the El Niño Costero effect, which forecasters said is expected to strengthen slightly in March. The warming increases evaporation rates and drives the extreme rainfall events that have battered Peru’s southern provinces, according to authorities monitoring the climate system.
Emergency Response
Regional authorities in Peru’s Arequipa province called on the nation’s interim president to declare a state of emergency Monday. Regional Governor Dr. Rohel Sánchez Sánchez announced that multiple emergency refuges were opened across the Arequipa region and that the National Institute of Civil Defense distributed food and tents to residents forced to evacuate. Rescue operations continued in neighborhoods devastated by mudslides as authorities assessed damage across the southern region.
Built on Risky Ground
The neighborhood where the father and son died sits directly above an ancient watercourse that experts said has carried torrents of water for centuries during periods of heavy rain. The encroachment of homes into this path has exposed residents to recurring flood risk during El Niño events and other heavy-rain periods.
Climate and Forecast
The flooding was driven by El Niño Costero, a climate phenomenon fueled by warming Pacific waters in the eastern Pacific. Meteorologists said the warming increases evaporation rates, driving the extreme rainfall and swollen river flows that triggered the disaster. The phenomenon is expected to strengthen slightly in March, maintaining elevated flood risk across Peru’s southern provinces in the coming weeks.