Santiago, 27 Mar – MapAction is sending a team of two volunteers at the request of the United Nations and Government of Chile in response to severe flooding in the north of the country.
A state of emergency has been declared in the Atacama and Antofagasta regions where two people have already died and twenty-two are missing. Over 40,000 people are reported to be without drinking water and 53,500 without electricity. People have been asked to self-evacuate. Further heavy rainfall is likely to make conditions even worse. The United Nations team will help with needs and damage assessments.
In the meantime MapAction has also sent a second rotation of personnel to Vanuatu to finalise the organisation’s support there and handover to the United Nations and national mapping focal points.