Power Outages and Flooding Hit Ñuble Region After Severe Weather System
A severe weather system struck the Ñuble region in Chile, leaving more than 47,000 customers without electricity due to lightning strikes and flooding streets in Chillán, biobiochile.cl reported. The storms caused widespread blackouts across multiple communes and brought intense rainfall, hail, and a funnel cloud captured near the regional capital.
Lightning Strikes Cause Transmission Line Outage and Fires
Energy officials pointed to severe weather as the trigger for an outage on the 154-kilovolt Transelec transmission line connecting Charrúa to Parral. Cristián Hucke, the regional energy secretary for Ñuble, stated that the failure originated in the Charrúa substation between 16:43 and 16:53. Authorities attribute the primary cause to lightning strikes hitting high-voltage power lines.
The electrical strikes also sparked residential fires in the San Miguel sector of the Yungay commune. Firefighters and Carabineros units deployed to the area alongside electrical crews to manage the blazes and repair the grid.
Communes Facing Severe Power Cuts
According to an 18:00 report from the Superintendencia de Electricidad y Combustibles (SEC), the outages heavily impacted Companía General de Electricidad (CGE) customers across several areas.
* Chillán: 14,823 affected customers
* San Carlos: 9,813 affected customers
* Quillón: 8,816 affected customers
Additional communes experiencing outages include Portezuelo, Chillán Viejo, Coihueco, Ninhue, Quirihue, Trehuaco, San Nicolás, Cobquecura, Pelluhue, and Cauquenes. Power restoration is proceeding gradually as crews follow mandatory safety protocols.
Flooding and Funnel Cloud Sightings in Chillán
Heavy downpours left multiple neighborhoods in Chillán underwater, including the Lomas de Oriente 4 and Villa Brisas del Valle sectors. Hail fell in the Villa Huertos sector during the peak of the storm. The Red Geocientífica de Chile also shared video footage of a funnel cloud recorded over the regional capital.
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