SANTIAGO – Wind and pouring rain over the past few days have struck central and southern Chile, leaving two people dead and 3,542 displaced, while 194,206 households are without electricity and 9,452 households have no drinking water, the national emergency management office said Monday.

El Libertadores crossing on the main road connecting Chile and Argentina remains closed.

The two fatalities occurred in the Los Lagos and O’Higgins regions, in the latter case when high winds knocked down a tree that crashed onto the home of the victim, a 37-year-old mother of four.

Two people were injured in the O’Higgins region and a total of 3,542 evacuated their homes, of whom 3,048 are in the Bio Bio region. Of the total, only 78 are in shelters.

At the same time 194,206 homes in the Valparaiso, O’Higgins, Maule, Bio Bio, Araucania and Los Lagos regions remain without electricity, while 9,452 homes in Bio Bio also have no drinking water.

Meanwhile the ports of San Antonio, Algarrobo and Juan Fernandez are closed to small boats, while Quintero and Valparaiso, one of biggest in the country, are closed to vessels of all kinds.

The storm brought heavy rain that lasted all weekend between the regions of Los Lagos and the Santiago metropolitan region.

The situation was returning to normal Monday, though another storm front was forecast southward from the Maule region. EFE