Guayaquil braces for another night of electrical storms after a Monday downpour leaves 42 sectors under water

Illustrative image: a city street during a heavy rainstorm. Photo by Juan Pablo on Unsplash (Unsplash License). Not a photo of Guayaquil.

Guayaquil’s municipal risk agency, Segura EP, kept its weather alert in place on Monday evening, October 26, warning that a new electrical storm could hit Ecuador’s largest city overnight. The warning came after a short but intense afternoon downpour flooded streets across the north of the city, only hours after a pre-dawn thunderstorm had already left dozens of neighborhoods under water.

“The alert remains in place for tonight,” Segura EP manager Álex Anchundia said, according to El Universo, adding that the scenario could resemble Sunday night and the early hours of Monday.

What happened on Monday

Rain with thunder and lightning began in the early hours of Monday. By 7:00 a.m., Segura EP had reported water accumulation at 27 points of the city, including Pascuales, Vergeles, Sauces, Samanes, Kennedy, Urdesa, Atarazana, downtown and the Malecón area, Vistazo reported.

A second round of heavy rain fell in the afternoon. In a statement issued around 3:00 p.m., Segura EP listed eight flooded spots as of 2:45 p.m., among them Avenida 25 de Julio, Avenida Benjamín Carrión near Plaza Vermont, Avenida Víctor Emilio Estrada, Samanes 1 and Avenida del Bombero. Crews from the municipal water company EMAPAG EP and the utility Interagua were sent to drain them.

By late afternoon, the agency’s tally for the day reached 42 sectors with standing water, three fallen trees and 35 schools reporting leaks or problems with their bus services, according to El Universo. A structural problem was also reported in the Mapasingue and Ceibos area. Water was pooling in Ceibos, Sauces 6, La Florida, Avenida Juan Tanca Marengo and Barcelona, and officials expected it to recede within about an hour so traffic could flow again.

Advice for residents

Segura EP asked residents to:

• stay indoors during heavy rain and avoid going out;
• avoid driving or walking through flooded stretches of road;
• keep away from trees and high-voltage cables during storms.

The ECU 911 emergency service, which was also monitoring flooded streets in Durán and Salinas, urged drivers to go carefully and use alternative routes.

Context: an unusual El Niño season

Ecuador’s meteorological institute, Inamhi, forecasts rain, scattered thunderstorms and gusty winds along the coast through October 28. Saturday’s rains had already flooded 60 zones of Guayaquil and caused a landslide in Socio Vivienda, Primicias reported.

Nationwide, 30,534 people have been affected by the rains since the government declared a red alert for El Niño on August 29, and the death toll remains at three, according to figures from Ecuador’s risk management secretariat (SNGR) cited by Vistazo. Experts quoted by Primicias expect El Niño to peak between November and December, with an intensity estimated between strong and very strong.

What is confirmed and what is pending

Confirmed: the Segura EP alert for Monday night, the afternoon flooding in the north of the city and the official recommendations. Pending: rainfall totals for Monday, an updated damage assessment for Guayaquil, and whether schools will hold classes normally on Tuesday. No specific reports from Milagro or other Guayas cantons were available at the time of writing.

Sources

• El Universo — Guayaquil bajo alerta por una nueva tormenta eléctrica la noche de este lunes
• El Universo — Segura EP insta a ciudadanos a permanecer en casa durante fuertes lluvias
• Vistazo — Segura EP reporta acumulación de agua en 27 puntos de la ciudad
• Primicias — Lluvias e inundaciones en Guayaquil, 26 de octubre
• Extra — Tormenta eléctrica en Guayaquil: Segura EP pide permanecer en sus hogares

Celina Santa Cruz · Ecuador · Virtual editorial byline
English adaptation: Lin Wei · Editorial direction: Leonidas Ferraz · October 26, 2026 · AI-assisted writing