Torrential rains along the Andes of northern Chile has sent flood waters crashing through some of the driest towns on Earth.

Fortunately, no deaths were reported, yet some 800 residents were driven from their homes by floodwaters up to two meters (about 6 feet) deep, the UK Telegraph said last week.

Two high Atacama Desert towns, San Pedro de Atacama and Toconao, apparently bore the brunt of the flooding.

Video on the Telegraph website showed raging, muddy-brown water and scenes of water-borne destruction.

The area is part of a “closed basin”, the Salar de Atacama, which is set about 8,000 feet above sea level in the Andes of northern Chile.

Although climate records for the area are sketchy, it is likely that years can pass without measurable rain in the effected towns.

Another town in the area, Monturaqui, apparently did no have measurable rain over a span of 12 years, according to the website weatherbase.com.

Both San Pedro and Toconao are located where streams, which normally would be dry or mere trickles, flow off high Andean peaks, fanning out as they reach the floor of the basin.

It is unclear whether all of the flooded areas actually saw even a drop of rain.

The higher mountains do see infrequent summer showers, but it is rare summer cloudbursts that can trigger desert flash floods on normally dry washes, such as the ones that swept through the two towns.

Video credit: metalisk/YouTube

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Image extracted from YouTube video.