Heavy rains damage houses, roads in Guanacaste

Strong rains on Wednesday in Costa Rica’s Pacific region caused flooding in several points of the northwestern province of Guanacaste.

In the canton of Santa Cruz, overflowing rivers flooded several roads and carried away two buses. One of them, transporting 21 passengers, was overturned by the flood, but no injuries were reported.

Authorities of the National Emergency Commission (CNE) are evaluating the region to determine if enabling temporary shelters will be necessary.

CNE reports indicate that, as of Thursday morning, five houses were affected and 25 people had been evacuated as a precautionary measure.

Access to the communities of Paso Hondo, Pilas, Marbella and Ostional are closed, and the CNE warned against traveling to these places, especially in small vehicles.

Forecasts from the National Meteorological Institute state that heavy rains in the Pacific region could continue for at least 24 hours.