BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Rivers swollen by heavy rains linked to El Niño continued flooding swaths of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay on Friday, forcing thousands of people from their homes and sending ranchers scrambling to move cattle to higher ground.
In Argentina’s northeastern Corrientes province, the Paraná River rose to a dangerous 4.7 meters (15.4 feet) on Thursday in the riverside town of Ituzaingó, prompting evacuations there and in other towns across the province. Herds of cows waded across flooded pastures as ranchers guided them toward dry land. The calves struggled against a current thick with floating clumps of river plants. Provincial officials said they were digging canals and installing drains to prepare for more heavy rain.
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Tourists stand on a walkway overlooking Iguazu Falls in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
A tourist stands on a walkway overlooking Iguazu Falls in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
A tourist stands on a walkway overlooking Iguazu Falls in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
Water cascades over the cliffs of Iguazu Falls in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
The floodwaters come from three major rivers that start in Brazil and flow south through the region: the Paraná, the Uruguay and the Iguazú. Torrential rain has pushed all three waterways higher for days, spilling them over their banks in northeastern Argentina, southern Paraguay and western Uruguay.
This part of South America often gets heavy rain during El Niño, a natural climate phenomenon in which warmer-than-usual waters in the Pacific Ocean scramble weather patterns around the world. Forecasters say this year’s could be among the strongest on record, and its effects are already being felt across South America and far beyond, from an unusually stormy hurricane season off Mexico’s Pacific coast to the threat of severe drought in Southeast Asia.
Paraguay has seen the most evacuations from the recent floods. In the border city of Ayolas, across the Paraná River from Ituzaingó, more than 2,000 people have fled their homes, Mayor Carlos Duarte told a local radio station Friday. He said the river had reached its highest level there in more than four decades and could rise further.
The flooding has also hit one of South America’s biggest tourist attractions. At Iguazu Falls, the waterfalls on Argentina’s border with Brazil, park authorities have closed the walkway to the Devil’s Throat, the largest and most dramatic of the cascades, because of the high Iguazú River. Other trails that were shut in recent days have reopened.
In Uruguay, the Salto Grande hydroelectric dam, which the country shares with Argentina, has gradually opened its gates to relieve the rising Uruguay River, flooding parts of cities downstream. Several dozen people remain out of their homes.
More rain is on the way. Uruguayan officials have warned that the country’s drenched northwest will get its heaviest rain of the year in the coming months. In southern Brazil, where the rising Paraná, Uruguay and Iguazú rivers originate, the national weather service expects above-average rainfall through December.
Associated Press writers Ramiro Barreiro in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.
Tourists stand on a walkway overlooking Iguazu Falls in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
A tourist stands on a walkway overlooking Iguazu Falls in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
A tourist stands on a walkway overlooking Iguazu Falls in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
Water cascades over the cliffs of Iguazu Falls in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A fast-moving fire burned at least four homes in Southern California as hot, windy weather gripped the region Friday, prompting evacuations and power outages. TV footage showed homes burning in San Juan Capistrano in Orange County, flames engulfing them.
Aerial footage from TV crews showed firefighters spraying two-story suburban homes with flames leaping out of their roofs. Black smoke billowed over tennis courts and backyard swimming pools.
The Orange County Fire Authority said four homes have burned and that two evacuation shelters have opened, one in each city. It asked those under evacuation orders to “leave now.”
The wildfire started in the coastal city of San Clemente and was driven by the wind into San Juan Capistrano. It was one of several fires burning in the region that was hit by dry, warm and gusty northeast winds known as Santa Anas, which blow from the interior of Southern California toward the coast and offshore, were forecast. The strongest winds were expected through Friday afternoon but conditions that increase the fire risk were expected to last through Saturday night.
The fires have led to evacuations and tens of thousands of people in the state are without power after their electricity was turned off.
The cities are in southern Orange County near the coast and surrounded by hillsides. San Juan Capistrano, a city of 35,000, is known for horse trails while nearby San Clemente, which is home to 62,000 people, is known as a “Spanish village by the sea” and popular with beachgoers and surfers.
Victor Cabral, a city council member in San Clemente, said schools have been closed and activities canceled, and thousands were being asked to evacuate, he said.
“The fire is right up on the city,” he said. “It’s on the perimeter of our homes on the north end.”
A blaze in Malibu, a coastal town west of Los Angeles, prompted evacuation orders and warnings for a large swath of the Santa Monica Mountains. A large cloud of black smoke over the hilltops could be seen on nearby cameras and miles away.
Winds from 20 mph to 35 mph (32 kph to 56 kph) were expected Friday, with gusts forecast to reach 50 mph up to 70 mph (80 kph to 112 kph) in some areas, the National Weather Service said.
With humidity levels dropping, “this will favor a critical fire weather threat,” the service said early Friday.
More than 400 firefighters battled the Bryson Fire overnight, which was at 250 acres (100 hectares) on Friday morning. It had threatened a Los Angeles County juvenile detention and rehabilitation facility, which was evacuated Thursday night.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who faced criticism for her city's response to deadly fires in 2025, directed the fire department to deploy personnel and equipment ahead of the winds. The fire department also requested assistance from the state’s office of emergency services.
“It’s a pretty widespread event of elevated fire weather, so the whole SoCal region should really be on alert,” said Rose Schoenfeld, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The Santa Anas could reach 20 to 40 mph (32 to 64 kph), with gusts from 50 to 70 mph (80 to 113 kph), in the San Gabriel mountains in Los Angeles County and the Santa Susana mountains, which are mostly in Ventura County, Schoenfeld said. Elevated, though brief, critical fire weather conditions were also forecast for portions of the Santa Lucia mountains in San Luis Obispo County.
Firefighters on Friday worked to contain two other fires that had sparked Thursday afternoon and triggered evacuation orders in the city of Azusa, north of LA, and Camp Pendleton, near San Diego.
More than 175,000 customers in northern, central and southern California were without electricity as of Friday, according to poweroutage.com.
Some of California’s worst wildfires have been sparked by power equipment, and utilities in recent years have begun proactively shutting off power during dry, windy weather in an effort to prevent blazes.
A wind-driven fire in Azusa burned over 40 acres (16 hectares) on Thursday and briefly prompted evacuation orders for a neighborhood in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains. Forward progress on the blaze had been stopped by midafternoon.
Farther south, a fire at Camp Pendleton threatened buildings. Evacuation orders were issued in the Las Flores area of the military base and lifted by evening, military officials said in a statement.
In Northern California, some communities in the Sierra Nevada and its foothills began experiencing strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity Wednesday night.
The weather service issued a red flag warning for parts of central and Northern California through Friday morning, saying any fires would spread rapidly. Such warnings are issued when weather conditions create an increased risk of wildfires.
The potential interruption in electricity to customers from the Central Coast to the upper corners of the Sierra Nevada could last through Saturday afternoon, Pacific Gas and Electric Company said.
Rodriguez reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writer Jaimie Ding contributed from Los Angeles.
The sun is obscured by smoke as firefighters work to save structures on Via La Mirada during the Norte fire in San Clemente, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP)
Firefighters work to save structures on Via La Mirada during the Norte fire in San Clemente, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP)
The Bryson Fire illuminates a ridge top on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Crews make a stand in front of the Bryson Fire on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Crews make a stand in front of the Bryson Fire on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A tanker drops retardant on the Peak Fire Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Azusa, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Hot spots glow across a hillside during the Bryson Fire in Malibu, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
