QCOSTARICA — The heavy rains during Monday afternoon resulted in flooding, and one person missing after apparently being dragged by the currents into a sewer.
This unfortunate incident came to light following a report Monday after 6 pm, that an individual, a senior whose identity has not been made public, was reportedly dragged by the currents caused by heavy rainfall in the Llorente de Tibás area on Route 32 while getting off a bus, resulting in him falling into an uncovered drain.
– Advertisement –
After inspecting the area and carrying out a search to find the missing person, the Red Cross suspended operations Monday night due to the heavy rains and expected to resume this morning. According to the Red Cross, the sewer empties into the Rivera ravine and goes to the Virilla River.
“The story is that the man gets off the bus, tries to cross the sewer, but the amount of water dragged him, he was submerged into the sewer, an inspection was carried out and it was found that it was uncovered, without a grate, so due to its size, the body was apparently dragged according to what witnesses stated.
“An inspection is carried out at the main entrance of the sewer, that is, where the person was dragged, as well as at the lower part, because it flows into the Virilla River where another unit is waiting, however, for the amount of water, we cannot define if it remains inside the pipes or if it has already come out and is downstream,” said Red Cross spokesperson Erick Quiros.
Trapped Vehicles
In the area of San Pedro Montes de Oca, in front of the Faculty of Law of the University of Costa Rica (UCR), two vehicles were completely trapped by a large amount of accumulated water, caused by clogged storm sewers.
Both the pick-up truck and sedan were fully underwater. The drivers managed to escape through the windows and wait on top of their vehicles until rescue teams arrived.
– Advertisement –
Affected Areas
The Comisión Nacional Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias (CNE) – Commission for Risk Prevention and Emergency Response – reported that until late Monday night, the heavy downpours had caused at least 26 incidents.
Among the incidents are flooded homes due to sewage problems. Specifically, at least 12 incidents of sewage saturation were reported in Montes de Oca and Goicoechea.
Likewise, the Commission emergencies were recorded in Grecia, Heredia, Poás, Alajuela, Garabito, Naranjo, Santa Bárbara and Corredores in the southern zone.
Three More Tropical Waves
According to the national weather service, the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN), three tropical waves will enter the country this week, causing even more rain.
– Advertisement –
On Wednesday, tropical wave number 8 is expected to affect the country, which will decrease as the hours of that same day pass. It is expected that for Thursday night and early Friday morning, tropical wave 9 will have its effect felt, causing atmospheric instability and heavy rainfall that will decrease Friday afternoon. Phenomenon number 10 is expected this weekend, bringing much more rain.
The areas that will mainly be affected will be the Pacific, Central Valley, Northern Zone and mountains of the Caribbean. For this reason, the CNE calls on people to be alert to landslides or flood emergencies.
“The Intertropical Convergence Zone and the passage of waves, together with a high humidity content, anticipate a rainy week, especially starting on Thursday and towards the weekend. Rains are more likely to occur during the afternoons and nights,” indicated the IMN.
Costa Rica is on yellow alert due to the weather conditions and heavy downpours.
“The heavy rains occurred the country left more than 100 homes affected due to the collapse of sewers, falling trees, among others. Due to the IMN forecast and the saturation of the soil, it forces us to maintain the state of yellow alert due to rain throughout the national territory,” highlighted Alejandro Picado, president of the CNE.
Given these conditions, the authorities recommend the following:
- Take extreme caution due to sewage saturation in places prone to this type of flooding.
- Prevention against electrical storm
- Seek shelter in a safe place in case strong gusts of winds or are perceived near storm clouds, due to the possible falling of tree branches, and power lines, among others. Gusts can reach 80 km/h in some isolated cases.
– Advertisement –
Source link
Rico
