Severe floods in Chile: Thousands cut off from outside world

Days of heavy rain have submerged regions in Chile, severely affecting thousands of people.

Following the severe flooding, more than 12,000 people in Chile have been cut off from the outside world. Another 1,600 sought refuge in emergency shelters. Two people have also died in the floods while four others are still missing.

The government declared five of Chile's 16 regions a disaster area, including the area around the capital Santiago. After days of rain, numerous rivers burst their banks and the ground became unstable.

Many roads are still impassable. Almost 1,500 houses were destroyed and over 3,000 others damaged. The weather has eased in the meantime however, so clean-up efforts have begun.

Uruguay, on the other side of South America, is currently experiencing the opposite extreme. There, drought and water shortages have prevailed for months.

One cause of the weather extremes in South America is the El Niño and La Niña phenomena.

As a result, weather conditions are shifting around the world due to changes in air and ocean currents. In parts of Africa and South America, El Niño makes floods more likely, while droughts increase in Southeast Asia and eastern Australia.

According to the WMO, strong and moderate El Niño events contribute to warming and increase the average global surface temperature.