CIUDAD DEL ESTE, Paraguay — An intensifying storm season linked to the El Niño weather pattern brought flooding to Paraguay this week, killed two farm workers in Argentina's cattle belt and damaged coastal communities in Peru and Mexico.

In Mexico, part of a luxury condominium complex collapsed on Wednesday in San Pancho, a tourist town on the Pacific coast in Nayarit State, after pounding surf washed away the sand beneath it. The erosion exposed the building's foundation and left the structure tilted dramatically toward the sea.

Paraguay Hit Hard by Rising Parana River

In Paraguay, two dozen families took refuge at a church near the border with Brazil after floods damaged their homes, while other residents anxiously monitored the swelling Parana River, South America's second-largest river, as heavy rains battered the region.

The rising Parana, a key commercial waterway that carries grain and other cargo between inland farms and Atlantic ports, has affected about 4,200 families, according to Paraguay's national emergency agency. A 58-year-old woman died after her home collapsed in the rains.

At the church in Ciudad del Este, now doubling as a shelter, dozens of residents pitched tents on a soccer field while others organized communal kitchens with support from the church and local businesses.

In San Rafael, a riverside town, 65-year-old Antonina Sánchez described a sudden escape. "I was surprised because the water came very quickly. My house, my entire kitchen collapsed; it's caving in," she said.

UN Warns of Record Pacific Warming

United Nations officials warned this week that El Niño could drive a record increase in Pacific Ocean temperatures as it moves around the globe like a "wrecking ball," triggering floods in some regions and droughts in others. El Niño is a climate pattern marked by above-average sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific that can shift rainfall and storm tracks across continents — a dynamic consistent with a single storm season producing river flooding in South America and coastal erosion on Mexico's Pacific shore at the same time.

The World Meteorological Organization has predicted that central Pacific temperatures will rise about 3.8 degrees Celsius above average between and January, peaking around December, producing one of the most turbulent storm seasons on record. With that forecast peak still ahead, river levels along the Parana and the expanding relief efforts in Paraguay, Argentina and Peru are the developments to follow in the weeks ahead.

Deaths in Argentina, Damage Across the Region

Elsewhere in Latin America this week, two farm workers died near Bella Vista in Argentina's Corrientes province while moving cattle away from flooded areas near the Parana, local media reported — a reminder of the hazards facing rural workers in the cattle belt as floodwaters spread. Hundreds of residents have been evacuated across the province, although above-average rainfall in parts of the Pampas agricultural belt could benefit crops.

In Chile's capital, Santiago, a flooded stream triggered a mudslide onto city streets on Oct. 8, and days later a storm blanketed roads with hail and flooded streets.

In Peru, authorities announced on Thursday financial aid and tax relief for businesses affected by the extreme weather battering the country's Pacific coast. The government plans to allocate $5.22 billion in 2027 toward mitigating the economic impact.

— Reuters

Original reporting via BusinessWorld.