Saturday, October 20th, 2012 – QNews Costa Rica | Source: Costa Rica Star
As a result of flooding caused by heavy rains on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, as well as a report issued by the National Meteorology Institute (IMN, in Spanish) on Thursday, the National Risk Prevention and Emergency Response Comission (CNE), declared a “green alert” for the Pacific and Central Valley areas.
The heavy rains, as well as bad waste management, caused rivers to overflow, and creeks and sewage systems to collapse due to the accumulation of garbage. This caused streets and houses to flood in various communities in Guanacaste, Puntarenas, Alajuela and Heredia.
The National Emergency Response team was on call most of the night, on alert and receiving information on incidents, as well as evaluating the needs of those affected. Most of the reports were of house floods
According to the CNE, several rivers in Guanacaste caused floods in Filadefia (Carillo), Santa Cecilia, El Guabo, 27 de Abril, and La Garua (Santa Cruz). Houses in Puntarenas, in the towns of Piedras Blancas, Dominical, Bahia Ballena, and Agroindustrial (Golfito) were also flooded.
CNE also received incident reports from Perez Zeledon.
In Alajuela, there were problems with the collapsing of sewage systems and creeks. In Heredia, flooding occurred in Flores, San Joaquin, and San Lorenzo.
Authorities of the National Emergency Response said, “We are currently in the rainiest month of the year, and, according to the report from IMN, the situation will remain similar … and strong rains will continue until Friday.”
The Institution also reminded citizens who live in areas close to rivers and creeks, or areas where landslides may occur, to remain alert and obey instructions from response authorities.
