QCOSTARICA — Costa Rica woke up this Monday morning on Orange Alert and the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) – National Emergency Commission, reported 182 flood incidents in the last few hours.
Most of them are concentrated in the Guanacaste cantons of Santa Cruz, Carrillo and Pococí in Limón.
Likewise, multiple landslides have been reported, making it necessary for teams of geologists to carry out inspections in different areas of the country.
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“We reached the largest number of people in shelters with a total of 1,179, located in 23 temporary accommodations, receiving comprehensive care, including recreational activities for children, psychosocial support, and shelter for the 37 pets that are in these sites with their families.
“Together with other institutions, we continue to enter communities that have been cut off due to the rising rivers. During the weekend, we entered the Tabaco River in Santa Cruz, in addition to the community of Santa Fé. We will continue to constantly monitor the hydrometeorological conditions,” explained Alejandro Picado, CNE president.
According to the Instituto Metereológico Nacional (IMN) – the national weather service, for this Monday, the country will continue to be influenced by several factors that generate a rainy environment in the country.
Some of these are the proximity of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a trough at altitude and a strong surface flow of westerly winds in the nearby Pacific Ocean.
According to the report, the Pacific slope will continue to be stormy and recurrent rains are expected throughout the day, especially in the coastal strip.
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In areas such as the Central Valley, the Northern Zone and the Caribbean, rain and cloudy skies may occur. In the afternoon and early evening, the pattern of scattered rain will continue in the North Zone, the Caribbean (west and mountains) and the Central Valley.
The main sectors at risk will be the Pacific coast and mountains due to the risk of incidents such as landslides and floods.
Emergency Responses
The Cruz Roja Costarricense (Red Cross) and the Bomberso (Fire Department) have been dedicated to carrying out the rescue of several people, including minors and pregnant women, one of them occurred in Venado de Santa Cruz, where paramedics evacuated a pregnant woman.
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“The Costa Rican Red Cross carried out the rescue of a pregnant woman in the Venado de Santa Cruz sector, in the place they collaborated with the mountain unit, and she was transferred in urgent category to the medical center in Santa Cruz,” Kevin Villegas highlighted that they collaborated with the mountain unit.
Another emergency that the Red Cross attended to occurred in Bolsón de Santa Cruz, where an elderly person with clinical kidney disease had to be evacuated and urgently transferred to the hospital.
On the other hand, during the weekend the Bomberso attended to a landslide in Los Guido de Desamparados, where three houses were compromised. Fortunately, no one was injured in this place. In Golfito, the same rescue team required a boat to evacuate eight people, including children and elderly people who had been cut off.
“The Aquatic Rescue Unit of the Brunca Region attended to a rescue of eight people in the Pueblo Nuevo sector, a boat was needed to reach the site and locate the people in a safe place,” emphasized Miguel Valverde, from the Aquatic Rescue Operational Unit of the Fire Department.
The Red Cross said it has 545 members who are still working in these emergencies, with a total of 190 units, including nine advanced support units, 141 basic support units, three boats, 10 rescue units, and 26 operational vehicles.
Throughout the country, the Red Cross has responded to 274 emergencies, of which 248 have been due to flooding and 26 due to landslides.
President Rodrigo Chaves, how let the needing of the Emergency Operations Center (COE), asked citizens who live in or near areas prone to flooding and landslides to evacuate.
“If your house is at the foot of a hill and at this moment it is saturated, please consider evacuating. If you are on the banks of a river, also evacuate. In fact, we have 18 shelters set up and we will put in as many as are needed,” said the president.
As to the roads, the head of the Ministerio de Obras Publicas y Transportes (MOPT), Mauricio Batalla, requested that people not travel through the higher elections of the mountains.
“If you have a trip and you have to go through high mountain roads and it is not strictly necessary, please, for the next few hours do not do it, suspend your trip and delay it. The most important thing is your life, in the end, if all the mountains have to fall, let them do it, but let not a single person die,” concluded Batalla.
After this meeting, the CNE raised the alert to orange for the entire country save for the South Caribbean, which remains on yellow alert.
Last week, heavy rains and flooding affected many areas, especially in the Guanacaste region, mainly due to the indirect influence of Hurricane Rafael and the passage of tropical wave 45.
Paulo Solano, IMN meteorologist, explained this situation and added that only one more tropical wave is expected to pass through the national territory in the remainder of 2024.
“Last year, 33 tropical waves affected Costa Rica; this year the IMN counts approximately 31, from this institution we are monitoring one more that is in the Caribbean Sea. On average, two tropical waves affect in November, we already had one last Friday,” said Solano.
Deaths
Due to heavy rainfall, two people lost their lives. One of them was a three-year-old boy who died after being crushed by an embankment in San Diego de Tres Ríos, while a 23-year-old man died after a tree inside the central campus of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) collapsed and fell on him.
Two people remain missing, one of them is a 35-year-old woman who was swept away by the María Aguilar River on the south side of San José.
No School
The Ministry of Public Education closed all public schools in the country for today and tomorrow (Monday, November 11 and Tuesday, November 12) as a preventive measure against heavy rains.
The University of Costa Rica (UCR) will apply the same measure. The National Learning Institute (INA) reported the same measure.
It is expected that private schools across the country will close as well. If you are a parent with a child in a private school, best to call ahead the school.
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