Chile's president says it will take at least three years to rebuild the region destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami, something all too clear to the people cleaning up this devastated tourist venue.

Dichato is positioned between pine-forested hills and a beautiful sheltered bay where fishing boats served export companies and coastal communities.

Its tourist population triples each January and February, many were in town when disaster hit - and residents depend on that brief summer vacation for the majority of their income. The unfortunate events of earthquake and tsunami killed nearly 19 people in Dichato and smashed nice wooden houses and small hotels into massive splinter piles. The surge destroyed most of the buildings in town, which reeked by Thursday of decomposing fish.