MIAMI – A woman covered in mud escaped a devastating mudslide in Peru, and the dramatic video went viral worldwide on Thursday.
While people were looking for trapped farm animals, Evangelina Chamorro crawled out of the dangerous floodwaters full of thick debris in Punta Hermosa, near the Panamericana Sur, according to Peruvian media.
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Chamorro, 32, was hospitalized on Wednesday and remained in stable condition, El Comercio reported. Landslides left hundreds homeless and blocked access to the central highway leading to areas in need.
A dozen people in Peru have died in the last three days as a result of dangerous flooding and mudslides that are now threatening the capital.
Unusually heavy rains have ravaged Peru's mostly-desert climate this year, killing 62 people and destroying 12,000 homes. Authorities said on Thursday they expect the intense rains caused by the warming of surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean to continue another two weeks.
President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has for now ruled out declaring a state of emergency and said late on Wednesday that authorities are prepared to provide shelter and relief to those left homeless.
But schools nationwide are suspending classes and in Lima the swelling of the Huaycoloro River swept away two trucks and is threatening to destroy a bridge.