Coastal El Niño hits Peru's economy

The El Niño Costero, or coastal El Niño weather phenomenon, which has so far caused 75 deaths and led to nearly 100,000 people losing their homes in Peru, could lower the country's GDP growth by up to 5%, according to a report by economic research institute Iedep, quoted by local paper El Comercio.

The weather phenomenon will have a marked influence on economic performance in March, and could lead to a review of annual GDP growth projections, according to Francisco Grippa, chief economist at BBVA Research, the paper said. BBVA Research maintains, however, its projection of 3.5% growth for 2017.

A similar weather phenomenon, according to some researchers, could hit countries in the northern hemisphere in the coming months, setting off a global El Niño phenomenon.

Coastal El Niño also triggered heavy rains and damage in Peru in the summers of 1925 and in 1957, according to Dimitri Gutiérrez, oceanographic researcher at Peru's maritime institute Imarpe, according to local paper La República.

Coastal El Niño is an anomalous 5-6°C warming of the maritime strip close to the Pacific coast, which causes enough humidity to produce heavy rains.

(Pictured: A flash flood hits the colorful historic center of the city of Trujillo.)