Please refer to the attached Infographic. KEY FIGURES 2. 3K homes damaged due to severe flooding in Chile 800 people remain in shelters after a 7. 6 earthquake in Panama 83% chance that El Niño will become the strongest on record between Oct – Dec MEXICO: HURRICANES Hurricane Simon strengthened to Category 4 on 11 October but stayed offshore, moving north-west parallel to the coasts of Colima and Jalisco. It is now forecast to approach Sinaloa on 13 October. Its heavy rain and storm surge flooded coastal towns, blocked roads and forced hundreds of people from their homes. In Guerrero, where Simon’s rains hit Acapulco earlier in the week, authorities reported one death, two injuries and 112 damaged homes. Civil protection placed 28 municipalities in Jalisco and Colima on maximum alert. Further north, the remnants of Rachel are bringing rain and strong winds to Baja California through 12 October. Meanwhile, Hurricane Isaias, the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2026 season, has moved away from Mexico towards the US coast after bringing rain and rough seas to the Yucatán Peninsula. CHILE: FLOODING Santiago is shaping up to have its wettest October in 76 years, with about 76 mm of rain in the first week, more than six times the city’s average for the whole month. The National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (SENAPRED) declared a yellow alert for the Santiago Metropolitan Region on 7 October, raising this to a red alert on 8 October in 10 foothill municipalities as a mudflow swept through San Carlos de Apoquindo in Las Condes, eastern Santiago, injuring six people. As of 9 October, SENAPRED reported 118 people left homeless, 147 in shelters and 50 cut off between the Coquimbo and Los Lagos regions, with more than 2, 300 homes damaged. Forecasters expected a new frontal system to reach central Chile on 12 October. Meteorologists link the unseasonal rain to a strengthening El Niño, which could bring more storms through the southern spring. PANAMA: EARTHQUAKE On 9 October at 12: 56 p. m. , a magnitude 7. 6 earthquake centred in Veraguas, 39 km north-west of Tonosí, struck Panama at a depth of 4 km. More than 350 aftershocks have followed. As of 12 October, authorities reported some 1, 250 damaged homes, 619 schools, 29 health facilities and 16 bridges, and 27 people injured. No deaths or missing people are reported. More than 800 people are in shelters, and many others are staying with relatives or sleeping outdoors for fear of aftershocks. Several hospitals are still treating patients in tents. The bridge over the Oria River remains closed, but aid is reaching communities around Tonosí by air and road. Heavy rain is forecast for the worst-hit areas. The UN is supporting the Government-led response following the 10 October declaration of a national state of emergency. CENTRAL AMERICA: DROUGHT & EL NIÑO On 7 October, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly declared a six-month national state of emergency, as producers warn that the August–September planting, which supplies three-quarters of the country’s beans, is at risk after first-season harvests fell by 20 to 30 per cent. In Honduras, authorities have advised farmers to delay second-season planting, while the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) projects that poor households in the Dry Corridor and around the Gulf of Fonseca will face Crisis (IPC Phase 3) through October. In Guatemala, the Government is rolling out a 500 million quetzal drought action plan as about 210 municipalities report crop losses. On 8 October, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) now forecasts an 83 per cent chance that El Niño will become the strongest on record since 1950.
Panama: Latin America & The Caribbean Weekly Situation Update as of 12 October 2026
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