At least 84 people have been killed been killed in floods and landslides caused by El Nino storms wreaking havoc across Peru. About half of the country is in a state of emergency to expedite resources to the hardest hit areas, mostly in the north where rainfall has broken records. Flash floods have destroyed more than 145,000 homes and 5% of the Andean nation's roads.
A man wades through deep water on the outskirts of Piura in northern PeruErnesto Benavides/AFP
In the normally dry Lima, where a third of Peruvians live, school classes have been suspended and running water restricted after treatment plants were clogged with debris from mudslides. People living in flooded neighbourhoods now face the spectre of diseases thriving amid pools of stagnant water.
IBTimes UK presents powerful photos showing the scale of the most devastating environmental calamity to strike the Andean nation in two decades.
A petrol pump is partly covered in mud after the Rimac river overflowed in Huarochiri, near LimaGuadalupe Pardo/ReutersAerial view of a collapsed road after a massive landslide and flood in Trujillo, northern PeruDouglas Juarez/ReutersAerial view of a collapsed bridge over the Moche River in Trujillo, northern PeruDouglas Juarez/ReutersThe swollen Rimac river rages through Huarochiri, near the Peruvian capitalGuadalupe Pardo/ReutersA man sits near a flood-ravaged home in Huarochiri, near LimaGuadalupe Pardo/ReutersFloodwater streams out of a flooded home in Huarochiri, on the outskirts of LimaGuadalupe Pardo/ReutersView of flooded homes after the Rimac river burst its banks in Huarochiri, east of LimaGuadalupe Pardo/ReutersVehicles wait on the Central Highway after a mudslide in Huarochiri, on the outskirts of LimaGuadalupe Pardo/ReutersResidents try to clear up their flooded house in the El Indio settlement on the outskirts of PiuraErnesto Benavides/AFPThe interior of a flooded house in the El Indio settlement on the outskirts of PiuraErnesto Benavides/AFPA resident bails out her flooded house in the El Indio settlement on the outskirts of Piura, in northern PeruErnesto Benavides/AFPA girl walks through floodwater outside her home in the El Indio settlement on the outskirts of Piura, in northern PeruErnesto Benavides/AFPA man cleans his home in Huachipa after rivers breached their banks due to torrential rains, causing flooding and widespread destructionMariana Bazo/ReutersA woman is helped to cross a flooded street after the Huaycoloro river burst its banks, sending torrents of mud and water rushing through the streets of HuachipaGuadalupe Pardo/ReutersRescuers help residents cross a flooded street in the town of Huarmey, 300 kilometres north of LimaChris Bouroncle/AFPResidents wade through muddy water on a street in Huarmey, 300 kilometres north of LimaChris Bouroncle/AFPA section of the railway line that was severely damaged by the raging river rushing through the town of Chosica, east of LimaChris Bouroncle/AFPA woman and a child are rescued in the Huachipa district of LimaGuadalupe Pardo/Reuters
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