Heavy rains have triggered mudslides in Chile’s capital, Santiago, sweeping cars through streets and flooding homes and hospitals

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Heavy rains drenched Chile’s capital and the surrounding region Thursday, triggering mudslides that swept cars through streets, flooded homes, forced residents to evacuate and injured at least six people, authorities said.

President José Antonio Kast declared a state of emergency for Las Condes, a wealthy suburb east of Santiago, giving government agencies more power to respond as torrential rains turned key roads into impassable waterways. The district's mayor, Catalina San Martín, said 14.4 centimeters (5.7 inches) of rain had fallen in recent days — about nine times the average October rainfall — leaving the area “totally saturated.”

The Mapocho River, which runs through Santiago, overflowed, prompting evacuation orders. Chile’s disaster-response agency put 10 other districts on high alert for more landslides and ordered schools to close Friday. Rain storms earlier this week had already damaged a few dozen homes across central Chile and left nearly 12,000 customers in Santiago without power, officials said. The downpours were expected to ease Friday.

No deaths were reported Thursday. The injured included a 1-year-old child with broken bones, officials said. Firefighters said they'd rescued or evacuated more than 1,000 people.

The floods come as a powerful El Niño gains strength. The naturally recurring warming of tropical Pacific waters scrambles rainfall patterns worldwide and often brings wetter springs to the Southern Hemisphere. The World Meteorological Organization said Thursday that this year’s El Niño was expected to peak in December and could be among the most intense since at least 1950.

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