"There's no need to panic, the government knows what it's doing," President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said in a televized event, urging people to stay clear of rivers. The government has acknowledged that prices have shot up some 5 percent because of the flooding.The highly unusual rains follow a series of storms that have struck especially hard along Peru's northern coast, with voracious waters inundating hospitals and cemeteries, and leaving some small villages entirely isolated.
Heavy flooding in Peru kills at least 67 people and forces thousands to abandon their homes.