Record-Breaking Rains Fall over Country

Intense rain that destroyed a dike, roofs, walls and roads in the Central Valley and Southern Zone Monday also broke national records, according to National Meteorological Institute (IMN) scientist Max Mena.

In the northern suburb of Tibás, about 80 millimeters of rain fell in one hour, at least 10 millimeters more than the national record, he said. The rest of the San José area and the country’s Southern Zone experienced rain so intense it turned some roads into muddy rivers, damaging homes and infrastructure.

In the Southern Zone canton of Corredores, a dike broke, flooding neighborhoods in nearby Ciudad Neily, according to a statement from the National Emergency Commission (CNE). Three bridges washed away near Ciudad Neily.

About 27 families had to evacuate their homes in the Corazón de Jesús neighborhood of the northwestern San José district of La Uruca, the statement said.

In Tibás, a vehicle was nearly swallowed by a hole in the road as it attempted to make it through thigh-deep water, and residents of one condo in the western suburb of Escazú saw a chunk of their ceiling cave in from the pressure of accumulated water.

“The intensity was extremely high, and we also saw a lot of electric activity” in the  form of thunder and lightning, Mena said,adding that there’s lots more rain and possibly tropical storms to come in September and October, typically the wettest months of the rainy season.