Introduction:

Peru shows vulnerability due to drastic climatic variations such as extreme rain episodes and high temperatures associated with the “El Niño Costero” phenomenon, which left impacts on the health of the rural population of Lima.

Objective:

To understand the experience of vulnerability and the social impact of natural disasters produced by the “El Niño Costero” phenomenon in the daily lives of families.

Methods:

Qualitative and interpretive study based on the theoretical framework of Michel Maffesoli’s comprehensive and quotidian sociology. The population consisted of forty families from the community of El Ayllu. The sample, obtained by saturation, consisted of seven families. The data were collected between the months of April and May 2018, while the information was obtained through participant observation and interviews, with an observation outline and guiding questions. Content analysis was applied, which permitted to obtain the categories.

Results:

Emerging categories, family motivations that influence displacement of families, and desperation during the disaster.

Conclusions:

Understanding the vulnerability and social impact of the natural disaster produced by the “El Niño Costero” phenomenon is perceived as a fatalistic situation that causes the population’s desperation and anguish after experiencing the most horrible displacements of land and mud. Uncertainty and losses produced a prevailing crisis in their lives, from which they must come forward by their own efforts.

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