The heavy rains of Wednesday afternoon once again flooded areas of downtown San Jose, the Hatillos, San Sebastian and Cañada del Sur. On the south side of San Jose, in Desamparados, a landslide…
In San Jose, in the downtown area of Chinatown once again became a temporary lake, as the storm sewers were not able to handle the volume of water that fell.
On the circunvalcacion (ring road), in the Hatillos, a minivan loaded with students was trapped by the water.
In San Sebastian, the Bomberos (fire department) rescued six people trapped in their houses a product of the heavy rains.
Fortunately, no deaths or injuries were reported.
In Desamparados, minutes before 7:00 am today, in the area of Los Guiod and Las Palmas, a landslide affected seven houses. Bomberos and the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) confirmed their search for people possibly trapped under the mud and rubble was negative.
Residents of the area advised the Municipality the morning before (Wednesday) of a possible landslide. One of the affected told La Nacion that he and his neighbors hadn’t slept, taking what they could before their homes were swept by the landslide.
The Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) – national emergency commission – confirmed that it was able to evacuate up to 12 surrounding houses before the landslide.
Carlos Badilla, speaking to La Nacion, said the landslide was probably caused by a makeshift landfill. “”Since they began to fill there without permits started the problems. Up there, from where it all came down, it was a garbage dump. Dump trucks came and went on Saturdays and Sundays so that the Municipality would not know. They were told, but ignored it,” said Badilla.
