Emergency commission issues ‘yellow’ weather alert for Guanacaste

Homes in San José-area districts Curridabat and Desemparados flooded and even some roofs caved in during the heavy rains that have battered much of Costa Rica this week.

Emergency workers counted 16 homes in the neighborhood of Tirrases in Curridabat, an eastern San José district, as standing in “high-risk” conditions.

The Santa Teresita de Tirrases Church is sheltering 100 residents whose homes sustained heavy damage. The other remaining shelter, the Asamblea de Dios Church in Gloria Bejarano, is offering refuge to 30 people.

“Intense rains, bad urban planning and informal constructions along the banks of rivers and in poor areas are still creating emergencies in different sections of the Central Valley,” said a National Emergency Commission (CNE) press release issued yesterday afternoon.

The Taras River in Cartago overflowed Wednesday soaking and damaging some 50 houses, according to the latest count by the CNE.

The commission issued a “yellow” alert – the second level of its weather warnings – for the Guanacaste province ahead of a low pressure system forecast for the region, according to CNE press officer Reinaldo Carballo.

Other flood-prone towns and villages throughout the Pacific and Central Valley remain under “green” alert, the lowest level, Carballo said.