Heavy rainfall in the region of Santiago, Chile is causing massive flash floods that are engulfing streets and sending cars floating along with the stream as if they were pool toys.
It is so easy to forget how powerful water can be until you are in a situation like this. The water arrives with a force that is unstoppable.
Thanks to social media, there are lots of videos of the flooding and many of them are going viral.
The Associated Press provides some background:
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.
Take a look at some videos below:
WATCH: Cars are swept away, drivers lose control, and one man desperately clings to a truck as flash floods tear through the streets of Chile's capital.
New surveillance video shows the frightening moment floodwaters surge through Santiago, carrying vehicles down flooded roads… pic.twitter.com/1pg3dGTCff
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 9, 2026
Momento en comenzó el aluvión en Las Condes. pic.twitter.com/he8miokwcv
— Vision País Chile 📡 (@visionpaischile) October 8, 2026
Flash flood in Chile SWEEPS bus away after torrential rains hit capital pic.twitter.com/xR5aDdrv2T
— RTVisual (@RT_Visual_on_X) October 8, 2026
🚨🇨🇱 Dramatic footage shows a devastating flash flood sweeping away dozens of cars in Las Condes, Santiago, Chile, as powerful floodwaters surge through the area.#Chile #Floods #BreakingNews pic.twitter.com/kuNj8m1wIT
— Kigali Daily News (@kigalidailynews) October 9, 2026
📹Filming from a wall, without worrying about the danger it poses to him, during the flood in Chile
▪️Heavy rainfall triggers a flash flood in the San Carlos de Apoquindo area of Las Condes.#Chile #Floods pic.twitter.com/Gz9nzMr5cn
— ⚡️🌎 Sarwar 🌐⚡️ (@ferozwala) October 9, 2026
That’s the power and force of water. Scary stuff.
