LIMA — Peru declared a 60-day state of emergency in 893 districts across 22 regions and Callao to prepare for intense rainfall tied to El Nino 2026-2027, according to Supreme Decree No. 124-2026-PCM published Sept. 1 in the official gazette El Peruano.
The order covers Amazonas, Ancash, Apurimac, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Huancavelica, Huanuco, Ica, Junin, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Lima, Loreto, Madre de Dios, Moquegua, Pasco, Piura, San Martin, Tacna, Tumbes, Ucayali and the Constitutional Province of Callao. It authorizes regional and local governments to take exceptional risk-reduction, response and rehabilitation steps after warnings from SENAMHI, CENEPRED, INDECI and the ENFEN El Nino commission.
Authorities have warned that about 1.2 million people could be at risk from flooding and landslides, especially in northern agricultural zones historically hit by coastal El Nino rains. ENFEN has raised odds of an extraordinary coastal El Nino between September 2026 and January 2027, citing warming off Peru’s coast and in the central equatorial Pacific.
Separately, the World Meteorological Organization said on Sept. 3 that El Nino is intensifying rapidly, is already exceptionally strong and is nearly certain to persist through February 2027 — the firmest such forecast the U.N. weather agency has issued for El Nino or La Nina. WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said the event “demands exceptional preparedness and response” as above-normal temperatures are expected across nearly the entire Earth’s surface from September through November, with heightened risks of floods, drought and extreme heat.
Sources: El Peruano; UN News / WMO; Anadolu Agency.
