Chileans confront a homelessness crisis, a first for one of South America's richest countries

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — The presidential residence of Gabriel Boric, the leftist millennial leader of Chile elected three years ago in the wake of public unrest over income inequality, shares a street in downtown Santiago with an overwhelmed homeless shelter.

The sight of cardboard boxes and blankets strewn across sidewalks in Boric's bohemian neighborhood serves as a sharp reminder of his struggle to fulfill his promise to give Chileans “a better life."

A pandemic-induced recession combined with a housing crunch and a major immigration influx have expanded Chile's homeless population like never before. Over the last four years, the rate of homelessness in one of South America's richest economies has jumped more than 30%, transforming the streets of a country that prides itself on its prosperity.

“The resources allocated to combat homelessness have been reduced, and the homeless population has increased,” said Rosario Carvajal, a city councilor in the capital, Santiago.

Even in the “barrios altos” — the well-heeled areas that presidents before Boric called home — destitute families have increasingly turned benches into beds and trees into toilets. In the beachside tourist hub of Viña del Mar, huddles of improvised tents have overshadowed the trendy art scene.

Chile said it has registered 21,126 homeless people this year, compared to 15,435 in 2020. Government figures rely on single-night snapshots by municipalities. Social workers put the real count around 40,000.

Last month, the government announced that, for the first time, it would include the homeless in its national census. Aid workers say that a better number, however flawed, will better reflect the scope of the problem and the country’s progress — or lack thereof — toward fixing it.

“This should force the government to implement more effective social policies,” said Andrés Millar, from Chilean charity Hogar de Cristo.

The sheer visibility of so many homeless people in Chile — a country considered far wealthier and more stable than its neighbors — has pushed the problem up on the agenda. “There is a lot of pressure from the neighbors to recover the public spaces,” said Carvajal.

Chilean police, reviled by the left for their harsh handling of the mass 2019 protests, have taken to tearing down encampments, joining municipal workers in routinely removing rough sleepers from parks and plazas.

“Police come and take everything, my tent, my blankets, my HIV medication,” said 43-year-old Paris López who sleeps outside in downtown Santiago. She stays up all night, she said, fearing violence from police as much as assaults from criminal gangs that have recently gained a foothold in Chile.

“It's dangerous,” Victoria Azevedo, a homeless mother of two, said of life on the streets in Santiago — particularly amid a crime wave that has driven Chile’s homicide rate up 50% since 2018. “If you are a woman and have children, it’s worse.”

In recent years, Chile has seen a demographic shift in its homeless population. Although there won't be an official breakdown until the census comes out next year, experts say that the country's affordable housing crunch has pushed more women and children onto the streets.

“Entire families have lost their resources to pay rent," said Ximena Torres, another advocate from Hogar de Cristo.

Pandemic lockdowns wreaked hardship on Chile's economy while it was struggling to recover from the 2019 mass protests that cost the country at least $3 billion, Chile's national insurance organization estimated.

Lavish pandemic aid — including a measure allowing Chileans to withdraw their pensions early — stoked inflation. The unemployment rate doubled to a record-breaking 13% from 2019 to 2020, making it difficult for many to pay rent. The central bank raised interest rates, lenders hiked the cost of loans and a housing crisis was born.

Housing prices jumped 70% over the last decade, said economist Gonzalo Durán from SOL Foundation, a Chilean think tank.

“I'm extremely broken inside,” said Moka Valdés, bursting into tears as she tried to describe the shock of having landed on the street last November after losing her job.

Many families bouncing between Chile's tent camps are undocumented migrants lured to the country by its reputation as South America’s most successful economy.

Government data shows that nearly 1.6 million of Chile's 19 million inhabitants are registered migrants, up from 1.3 million in 2018. The number of undocumented migrants has also soared, from 16,000 in 2020 to a staggering 53,875 two years later, according to the Observatory of Responsible Migration, a Chilean watchdog.

As the economy has slumped and public backlash against migrants intensified, Chile tightened visa requirements for Venezuelans — the largest group of recent arrivals. And last year President Boric deployed armed forces to the northern border with Peru, a key migration pass, to check migrants' documents and arrest smugglers.

After fleeing Venezuela and finding life as a migrant intolerable in Colombia and then Ecuador, 34-year-old Karen Salazar dreamed of Chile. Via foot and pick-up truck, Salazar, her husband and their two small children braved freezing cold mountains, rough desert terrain and predatory smugglers, lured by Chile’s reputation as a rare upwardly mobile nation in the region.

They didn't find what they hoped for. At first, they lived in a flimsy tent encampment in northern Chile. Then they moved to Santiago, where they slept outside in a public park.

“We know why we're in this situation, but to see the children like this is heart-breaking,” Salazar said from the shelter on Boric's street, where she queues for free meals.

As the crisis mounts, aid groups have intensified their pressure on the government. There are fewer than 200 homeless shelters nationwide, barely enough to accommodate 13% of Chile's current homeless population, said local advocate Rodrigo Ibarra Montero.

Upon taking office in March 2022, Boric vowed to build 260,000 new government-sponsored houses during his four-year term. Given the scale of the problem, many fear that will not be enough.

But the president hopes it will.

“We are making steady progress," he insisted in a recent speech inaugurating a new public housing development in Santiago. “You should judge us by the end of our term."

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Sebastian, the son of Venezuelan migrant couple Karen Salazar and Luis Henrique, runs inside the shelter "Nuestra Casa" or Our Home in the Yungay neighborhood of Santiago, Chile, Thursday, May 30, 2024. After fleeing Venezuela and finding life as a migrant intolerable in Colombia and then Ecuador, Sebastian's family migrated to Chile. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Store workers talk inside a vinyl record shop in the Yungay neighborhood of Santiago, Chile, June 6, 2024. A shelter for the homeless is located on the same block, and the presidential residence is across the street, where metal barriers are set up to block cars. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Chilean homeless transgender women Moka Valdes, left, and Paris Lopez, standing center, meet with a member of a city councilperson's staff, second from left, and a trans activist Victor Hugo Robles about how they are treated by police when they use public spaces in Santiago, Chile, Monday, April 29, 2024. Lopez said police confiscate her tent and blankets, as well as her HIV medication, while she sleeps in public spaces, and Valdes said she became homeless the previous year after losing her job. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Barbers from the "Peluqueria Francesa" or French Hair Salon, sit outside their workplace in the Yungay neighborhood of Santiago, Chile, June 6, 2024. Yungay is a neighborhood with a mix of historic buildings, baroque facades and modern restaurants, and has also become a popular spot for the homeless. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

A homeless man rests at the entrance to the shelter "Hogar de Cristo," or Christ's Home in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The words in Spanish read "Solidarity. Love. Dreams. Joy." (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Venezuelan migrant couple Karen Salazar, second from right, and Luis Henrique, center, play with their children Malin and Sebastian at the shelter "Nuestra Casa" our Our Home in the Yungay neighborhood of Santiago, Chile, Thursday, May 30, 2024. After fleeing Venezuela and finding life as a migrant intolerable in Colombia and then Ecuador, the family migrated to Chile. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Volunteers from the Nuestra Casa shelter hand out sandwiches and tea to the homeless in the Yungay neighborhood of Santiago, Chile, June 6, 2024. Over the last four years, the rate of homelessness in one of South America's richest economies has jumped more than 30%. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

The cats of Victoria Azevedo stand inside her improvised home built on an empty lot on the bank of a water canal in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. “It's dangerous,” said the Chilean homeless mother of two about life on the streets. “If you are a woman and have children, it’s worse.” (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Homeless person Paris Lopez, right, talks with a member of the NGO Diverse Action before they meet with a city council member in Santiago, Chile, Monday, April 29, 2024. Lopez, a Chilean trans woman, is meeting with the city worker to complain that police confiscate her tent and blankets, as well as her HIV medication, while she sleeps in public spaces. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

A homeless Chilean man who gave his name as Jose collects items, such as metal, from the El Zanjón de la Aguada water canal, in hopes of reselling it in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Over the last four years, the rate of homelessness in one of South America's richest economies has jumped more than 30%. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tropical Storm Debby was strengthening rapidly Sunday and was expected to become a hurricane as it churned through the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, bringing with it the threat of devastating floods to the southeast Atlantic coast later in the week.

The storm was likely to become a strong Category 1 hurricane before making landfall Monday in the Big Bend region of Florida, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

From there, Debby was expected to move eastward over northern Florida and then stall over the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina, thrashing the region with potential record-setting rains totaling up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) beginning Tuesday. Officials also warned of life-threatening storm surge along Florida’s Gulf Coast, with 6 to 10 feet of inundation expected Monday between the Ochlockonee and Suwannee rivers.

“There’s some really amazing rainfall totals being forecast and amazing in a bad way,” Michael Brennan, director of the hurricane center, said at a briefing. “That would be record-breaking rainfall associated with a tropical cyclone for both the states of Georgia and South Carolina if we got up to the 30 inch level.”

Flooding impacts could last through Friday and are expected to be especially severe in low-lying areas near the coast, including Savannah, Georgia; Hilton Head, South Carolina; and Charleston, South Carolina.

Officials in Savannah said the area could see a month’s worth of rain in four days if the system stalls over the region.

“This is going to a significant storm. The word historic cannot be underscored here,” Savannah Mayor Van. R. Johnson said during a press conference.

The hurricane center said in a 2 p.m. update that Debby was located about 125 miles (205 kilometers) west-southwest of Tampa, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (105 kph). The storm was moving north-northwest at 13 mph (21 kph).

Debby's outer bands grazed the west coast of Florida, flooding streets and bringing power outages. Sarasota County officials said most roadways on Siesta Key, a barrier island off the coast of Sarasota, were under water. The hurricane center predicted the system would strengthen as it curved off the southwest Florida coast, where the water has been extremely warm.

At a briefing Sunday afternoon, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned that the storm could lead to “really, really significant flooding that will happen in North Central Florida.”

He said it would follow a similar track to Hurricane Idalia, which lashed the state last year, but would “be much wetter. We are going to see much more inundation.”

Debby is the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season after Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Chris, all of which formed in June.

A hurricane warning was issued for parts of the Big Bend and the Florida Panhandle, while tropical storm warnings were posted for Florida’s West Coast, the southern Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas. A tropical storm watch extended farther west into the Panhandle.

Tropical storms and hurricanes can trigger river flooding and overwhelm drainage systems and canals. Forecasters warned of 6 to 12 inches (15 centimeters to 30 centimeters) of rain and up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) in isolated areas of Florida.

Flat Florida is prone to flooding even on sunny days, and the storm was predicted to bring a surge of 2 to 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2 meters) along most of the Gulf Coast, including Tampa Bay, with a storm tide of up to 7 feet (2.1 meters) north of there in the sparsely populated Big Bend region.

Forecasters warned of “a danger of life-threatening storm surge inundation” in a region that includes Hernando Beach, Crystal River, Steinhatchee and Cedar Key. Officials in Citrus and Levy counties ordered a mandatory evacuation of coastal areas, while those in Hernando, Manatee, Pasco and Taylor counties called for voluntary evacuations. Shelters opened in those and some other counties.

Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast estimated 21,000 people live in his county’s evacuation zone.

Residents in Steinhatchee, Florida, which flooded during Hurricane Idalia, spent Sunday moving items to higher ground.

“I’ve been here 29 years. This isn’t the first time I’ve done it. Do you get used to it? No,” Mark Reblin said as he moved items out of the liquor store he owns.

In Summerville, South Carolina, the Dorchester Paws animal shelter announced an emergency evacuation of more than 300 dogs and cats, calling on volunteers to take in the animals.

Employees of Savannah Canoe and Kayak in Georgia said they were busy tying down their watercrafts, laying sandbags, and raising equipment off the ground. Mayme Bouy, the store manager, said she wasn’t too concerned about the forecast calling for a potential historic rain event.

“But we do have some high tides this week so if the rain is happening around then, that could be bad,” Bouy added. “I’d rather play it safe than sorry.”

Gov. DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 61 of Florida’s 67 counties, with the National Guard activating 3,000 guard members. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp made his own emergency proclamation on Saturday, while South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency that enables state agencies to coordinate resources in preparation.

In Tampa alone, officials gave out more than 30,000 sandbags to barricade against flooding.

“We’ve got our stormwater drains cleared out. We’ve got our generators all checked and full. We’re doing everything that we need to be prepared to face a tropical storm,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said.

Emergency managers in New England and New York were already monitoring the path of the storm for the possibility of remnants striking their states. States including New York and Vermont have been hit by heavy rain and thunderstorms in recent weeks and were still coping with flooding and saturated ground.

Vermont, in particular, suffered two separate flooding events in July, and another could bring heavy damage to communities still repairing from earlier floods.

Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama. Jake Offenhartz contributed from New York.

This satellite image provided by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Debby as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (NOAA via AP)

Patrick Brafford, a beach lifeguard manager, uses a tie down strap to help secure a compact track loader and a lifeguard tower to help pull it further away from the water in preparation of potential storm at Clearwater Beach on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

From left, Matthew Blowers and Patrick Brafford prepare to secure a lifeguard tower in preparation of potential storm at Clearwater Beach on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

City workers empty trash cans to prepare for the storm at Clearwater Beach on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Palm trees blow in the breeze as a trio of fishermen take advantage of the favorable weather conditions along Suncoast Key in Ozello, Fla., before Tropical Storm Debby makes landfall on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Christopher O'Meara)

A trio of fishermen take advantage of the favorable weather conditions along Suncoast Key in Ozello, Fla., before Tropical Storm Debby makes landfall on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Christopher O'Meara)

People walk along a windy Hollywood Beach as Tropical Storm Debby moves through the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024 in Hollywood, Fla. (WPLG via AP)