Three deaths have been blamed on large waves of up to four meters hitting Ecuador, Chile and Peru, where almost 100 ports have been closed due to the harsh conditions.
Ecuador’s risk management secretary, Jorge Carillo, told a news conference that an “extreme event” was occurring and warned that similar phenomena could occur in the future.
He added that “unfortunately we have two deaths, both recorded” in the Manta region of southwest Ecuador.
Another was recorded in Chile, the national navy said, after a 30-year-old man was found dead on a beach.
In Peru, almost all ports have been closed due to the constant beating of the waves, the head of the Naval Oceanographic Department, Enrique Varea, told the Canal N channel.
He predicts that the large waves will “continue in the coming days”, but expects them to calm down somewhat from Monday and return to normal in the first days of January.
Images broadcast in local media showed piers and public squares submerged in parts of Peru, prompting residents to flee to higher ground.
The waves, according to the Peruvian Navy, are generated off the U.S. coast by winds blowing across the ocean surface.
Many beaches in the center and north of the country have been closed to avoid any risk to human life, authorities said.
Many fishing boats were damaged, while those that were spared were still unable to work in dangerous conditions.
“We need help from the authorities. Here we have lost around a hundred boats,” a fisherman told Peruvian television.
“I am 70 years old and I have never seen such unusual and strong waves,” he said.
Thirty-one fishermen stranded in the swell were rescued Saturday afternoon by the navy, while another told local radio that around 180 others remained at sea.
The city of Callao, adjacent to the capital Lima and home to Peru’s largest port, has closed several beaches and banned tourists from venturing there.
“The most affected were the fishermen,” Roberto Carrillo Zavala, mayor of the La Cruz district in the north of the country, told AFP after observing the damage by helicopter with Peruvian Defense Minister Walter Astudillo. Chávez.
“We hope nothing else happens because it would have a significant impact on the economy.”
The phenomenon began at Christmas and will last until January 1, according to Peru’s National Emergency Operations Center.
