:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/QA4PHQJCLI7JVXKZIJNRRVC33M.jpg "Cyclone Yaku: questions and answers about the weather phenomenon hitting the Peruvian coast")
Cyclone Yaku, which in Quechua means water, is an unusual weather event that generated torrential rains, flooding of villages, roads and overflowing rivers.
It’s not typical or typical of South America, he said The Associated Press the technician of the Oceanographic Institute of the Ecuadorian Navy, Michael Linthon.
A cyclone is an abnormal concentration of clouds that revolves around a center of low atmospheric pressure, whose converging winds rotate counterclockwise at high speed.
Named from lowest to highest intensity, they are classified into three categories: tropical depression, tropical storm and hurricaneof which the latter are best known for being very intense cyclones.
Yaku formed in late February in the Pacific, which recorded higher temperatures which increased rainfall. Strictly speaking, the sea recorded a rise in temperature compared to a normal average for this time of year from 25 to 26 degrees to 28 degrees today.
“Yaku causes more rain than normal,” said Benito Valderrama, a Senamhi specialist. It is not the first time that a similar event has occurred.
It occurred under similar conditions between 1997 and 1998, as well as between 1982 and 1983. The difference is that Yaku is located about 500 kilometers from the coast, while the previous ones formed at further distances.
Like other effects of past weather phenomena such as El Niño, experts warn that some immediate consequences that could occur are damage to public service infrastructure, such as bridges, roads, medical stations, police stations or schools.
According to Senamhi’s weather patterns, the rains will start to move slightly from the north, already battered by thunderstorms, towards the south of the country.
They will arrive in the capital, where it rains very little. For this reason, this Friday’s event surprised thousands of users on social networks.
One of the Senamhi scenarios predicts that in Lima, in the coming weeks, up to 5 liters of water per square meter will be observed, which will flood main roads, such as the Vía Expresa. This means that 5 kilos of water will fall for every square meter of the metropolis of Lima.
The agency said that the roofs of the houses could collapse due to the accumulation of water, if they do not have good drainage. This intensity could generate ravines and cause avalanches, as in 2017, when in an area of Lima, a mass of mud dragged down people and animals like cows.
For this reason, the Civil Defense has recommended that local authorities monitor the waterways to decide in advance on evacuations in the event of possible overflows. In the event of flooding in streets and urban areas, he suggested staying away from power lines or high voltage pylons. Also avoid crossing rivers with increased flow.