QCOSTARICA – The Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) – National Emergency Commission – on Friday raised the alert to yellow in most of Costa Rica due to heavy rains that caused more than 100 incidents and the forecast of more rainfall over the weekend.
The head of the CNE’s Research and Risk Analysis Unit, Lidier Esquivel, told the press that tropical wave #10 crossed the country this Thursday and left 102 incidents, 89 due to floods and 13 due to landslides associated with the constant rainfall.
Tropical wave #11 is upon us. According to the national weather service, the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) ) the transit of this tropical wave over Costa Rican territory this Friday will generate unstable conditions.
Esquivel specified that landslides have occurred mostly, in the southern part of the country, although cases were also reported in the south side of the Central Valley, including one of them in the province of Cartago, where some 15 people were left stranded.
As to the floods, Esquivel pointed out that many were caused by the overflow of the storm sewage systems, streams, and small rivers.
What we can expect today and tomorrow, Sunday: warm morning temperatures and the entry of sea breezes, that will favor rainy episodes, with greater accentuation during the afternoon and early evening.
The IMN explains that the regions with the highest probability of manifesting rainy activity are the Pacific, the North Zone and the Central Valley, while in the Caribbean it will be in the mountainous sectors.
“The soils are very saturated and it is possible that there will be incidents even when the rains are not very intense,” warned Esquivel, who indicated that the CNE raised the alert to yellow (caution) for practically the entire national territory, except for the southern region of the Caribbean coast.
After pointing out that there is no way to measure how the aquifers and the land saturated by the rains will behave with the precipitations of the new tropical wave, Esquivel urged the population in risk areas to act with caution, the best ally against possible tragedies.