QCOSTARICA – Under a heavy downpour, President Rodrigo Chaves visited the flooded areas of Desamparados, south of San José, Saturday afternoon and ordered the evacuation of affected families.
Shortly after, the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) – National Emergency Commission- declared an orange alert this afternoon for almost the entire country, excluding only the Caribbean area.
The alert went from yellow to orange in a matter of hours due to the development of heavy downpours in much of the national territory.
At the last report, there were 191 incidents due to the downpours and the rising of rivers and streams.
In addition, the high saturation of the soil, due to the accumulated effect of several days of rain, especially in the afternoons, is a major concern for vulnerable areas.
CNE requests caution on roads, and areas prone to landslides and floods.
Read more: Tragedy in Cambronero: 9 dead, 30 rescued after bus falls over cliff in Cambronero
Back in Desamparados, President Chaves took the lead in the evacuation efforts given that neither his Minister of Public Security, nor the regional head of the Fuerza Publica, had arrived at the scene.
According to a recent report from the national weather service, Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN), the greatest accumulations of rain have ranged between 40-70 mm in places such as Santa Rosa (Guanacaste), Montecarlo and Arunachala (Pérez Zeledón), Cerro Burío (Aserrí), Cerro Tablazo (Desamparados), Goicoechea, San Pedro and Llano Grande (Cartago).
In mountainous sectors of the Caribbean and the North Zone, significant amounts have also been recorded in a more localized manner (20-30 mm).
At this time, the national routes closed due to the rains are:
- Ruta 32 (San Jose – Limon)
- Ruta 1, in the area of Cambronero
- Ruta 339, Puriscal – Quitirrisí
- Ruta 141, Zarcero
- Ruta 118, Poas de Alajuela
- Ruta 209, Acosta
- Ruta 316, Puriscal
With “regulated passage” is Ruta 10, Turrialba.
