Heavy rains have inundated homes and roads across southern Lima, Peru's sprawling coastal capital, while landslides and river overflows have compounded the damage across the country's southern regions. Overwhelmed drainage systems have worsened the flooding in the city, and authorities have warned that conditions are set to deteriorate further as rainfall is expected to intensify in the coming days.

Lima, a megacity of around 11 million people situated on the arid Pacific coast, is no stranger to seasonal flooding — but its drainage infrastructure has long struggled to handle extreme rainfall events. Road closures linked to the current rains have disrupted movement both within Lima and across broader southern Peru, where rivers have burst their banks and landslides have cut off communities.

The Peruvian government has issued warnings urging residents in vulnerable areas to take precautions. Officials are particularly concerned about low-lying neighbourhoods where informal housing sits close to ravines and riverbeds, areas that historically suffer the worst impacts when Lima's drainage capacity is exceeded.

Why this matters: Peru's vulnerability to extreme weather is structurally embedded. The country sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire and is prone to the El Niño climate pattern, which periodically brings catastrophic rainfall to normally dry coastal zones. Urban expansion into high-risk areas has increased the exposure of thousands of families to flooding and landslides. With authorities signalling that the worst of the current rain event may still be ahead, emergency services face a mounting challenge in a city where infrastructure has consistently lagged behind population growth.