The Tumbes River has flooded more than 7,500 hectares of crops, homes and roads. The source of the river is in the mountains of the neighbouring country of Ecuador, where flooding in recent days has caused at least 25 deaths.
Heavy rains caused the river flow to exceed the all-time record of 1,300 cubic metres per second, and reached 1,887 cubic metres per second.
According to the Regional Director of Agriculture, Diego Alemán Ramírez, 2,800 hectares of organic and conventional bananas, as well as 200 of lemons and 200 of cocoa, among others, have been flooded.
Atacama, the region with the world's driest desert, is suffering its worst flooding in recent years due to heavy rains that have hit the north of the country.
In Chile, where the weather is putting the table grape campaign in jeopardy at national level (from Copiapo to O'Higgins), the Government reported that 12 people have lost their lives as a result of the rains and floods in the regions of Coquimbo, Atacama and Antofagasta.
"It is affecting between 35% and 40% of the vines with Red Globe and Crimson Seedless grapes not yet harvested; about 4 million boxes of Red Globe and 2.5 million boxes of Crimson Seedless are estimated to have been affected," said the press release from ASOEX.