It is forecast natural disasters could cost the country up to $500 million

LIMA - Peru is facing a critical situation as heavy rains caused by the El Nino phenomenon have been battering the country for weeks, leaving a trail of death and devastation.

The government has declared an emergency in some 800 districts in the northwestern regions of Tumbes, Piura, Lambayeque and La Libertad, the capital and in the southern provinces of Ica and Arequipa.

Torrential downpours, often accompanied by storms, have changed daily lives of many Peruvians. Hundreds of kilometers of roads have been cut off or blocked by flooding and landslides, while more than 100 bridges have collapsed across the country.

Flooding has claimed at least 72 lives as of Saturday and left about 72,000 people homeless.

More than 567,000 people have been affected and 119,000 buildings have been damaged.

It is predicted that natural disasters in Peru will cause losses of between $150 million and $500 million, which is likely to have a negative impact on national growth rate this year.

El Nino has led to the rise of the surface temperature of the Pacific by 5 C to an average of 20 C, according to scientists.

This has heated up water to abnormal levels, triggering torrential rains and landslides.

The heavy rainfall has forced the government to issue a series of yellow and red alerts for various major rivers.

Some 10 million people living in Lima have been suffering from restrictions or cuts on their drinking water supplies since Wednesday as intense rainfall has affected the city's La Atarjea water treatment plant.

Sedapal, Lima's drinking water utility, has been overwhelmed by the high turbidity of the water in the Rimac river.

The water turbidity in the river is usually 10,000 Nephelometric Turbidity Units, which is relatively clear, but now the figure has shot up to 98,000 NTU after the rains.

Forecasters expect the rainfall to continue into April.