Illustrative photo of a flooded street (Bingley, UK, 2015); not Guayaquil

Guayaquil’s Sunday storm dropped nearly four times the city’s normal November rainfall in one night; risk agency confirms one death and 26 emergencies in eight provinces

November 3, 2026 3 Min Read

Illustrative image: a flooded street (Bingley, UK, 2015) by Chris Gallagher on Unsplash, Unsplash License. It does not show Guayaquil.

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador — The storm that hit Guayaquil on the night of Sunday, November 1, dumped close to four times the rain the city normally receives in the whole of November, according to readings from Ecuador’s meteorological institute, Inamhi. The national risk-management secretariat (SNGR) has confirmed one death and recorded 26 weather emergencies across eight provinces in just 12 hours.

Inamhi described the downpour as “extreme.” Its station at the airport recorded 120 litres per square metre, against a normal average of 31.6 for the entire month, Primicias reported. Other parts of the city measured even more: 142 in Monte Bello, 165 in Monte Sinaí and 173.7 at the Songa shrimp-farm station. Inamhi technician Madelyn Enríquez told Primicias the total could be the highest since the 1997-98 El Niño, something the institute expects to confirm in the coming days.

The toll so far

Carolina Lozano, head of the SNGR, said 26 adverse events were recorded between 17:00 on November 1 and 05:00 on November 2: eight in El Oro, seven in Guayas, three each in Azuay and Los Ríos, two in Manabí and one each in Loja, Pichincha and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas. The preliminary count lists 48 people, 22 homes and 14 families affected, and officials said the numbers could rise.

In Guayaquil, the agency identified 90 flooded zones. According to the ECU 911 emergency service and the SNGR, a retaining wall collapsed in La Prosperina, in the north-west of the city, killing one person and injuring another. Firefighters used boats to reach people trapped in cars and homes.

The Interior Ministry said police and other agencies cleared 62 points of standing water on city roads, attended two traffic accidents and rescued 65 people and eight pets, coordinating through Segura EP’s video-surveillance cameras. Families whose homes were damaged were moved to temporary shelters, including the Centro Pastoral Jesús del Buen Pastor, and El Universo reported that six health centres and medical brigades were activated to treat those affected.

What comes next: the forecasts differ

Inamhi said Monday’s rain would be lighter but expected it to intensify again from Tuesday, November 3, with heavy precipitation in the following days linked to El Niño. Franklin Ormaza, an oceanographer and professor at the Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (Espol), told El Universo that Guayaquil could instead get a break of roughly ten days from strong storms, although light rain would continue. He cautioned that weather models are unreliable beyond four or five hours.

Ormaza said a high tide that coincided with Sunday night’s rain made the flooding worse, and that the city has accumulated about 730 mm of rain between October and November 2. He added that full El Niño conditions have not yet formed and that a NOAA report expected in mid-November should clarify the outlook.

Confirmed and pending

Confirmed: Inamhi’s rainfall readings; the SNGR count of 26 events in eight provinces; one death in La Prosperina (ECU 911 and SNGR); 65 people rescued (Interior Ministry).
Pending: a consolidated official damage report for Guayaquil; whether the rainfall is a record since 1998; which forecast holds this week.

Correction: our November 2 report placed the death in Flor de Bastión, citing Diario Extra. Official sources now locate it in La Prosperina.

Sources

Celina Santa Cruz · Ecuador · Virtual editorial byline
English adaptation: Lin Wei · Editorial direction: Leonidas Ferraz · November 3, 2026 · AI-assisted writing