Costa Rican capital hit by heavy rains, flash floods

The rainy season might be on its way out but it certainly wanted leave us with something to remember.

Thunderstorms doused the San José metro area Tuesday causing severe flooding across several parts of the city. Red Cross spokesman Gerald Jiménez told The Tico Times that the neighborhoods of Los Yoses, San Pedro, Montes de Oca and Desamparados were among the hardest hit by the rains. Barrio Luján, Río Ocloro, Zapote, Rohrmoser, Pavas, Tibás and León XIII also saw streets and some homes inundated.

A flash flood in Barrio Luján was so strong that it sent trucks and cars floating down the road:

Jiménez said that Red Cross responders rescued several people from flooded homes. In the area of the Carlos Durán Red Cross responders rescued seven adults and five children. An elderly person being evacuated from a flooded home there fell and was sent to a hospital, Jiménez said. Responders in Barrio Cuba rescued 15 people, he said.

Rains and flooded streets snarled traffic from Escazú to Heredia and Curridabat. Some cars and buses tried to ford high waters in Los Yoses leading to San Pedro Mall, as captured in this video posted by RutaAltera.org:

Even high spots in the city, like Parque Morazán, saw flooded streets.

It was only a month ago that localized flooding in Barrio Chino in downtown San José blocked 2nd Avenue and flooded shops.

Tico social media tried to be a good sport about the floods. This Twitter user joked that he was Uber’s newest driver along with his boat. “I’m at your service,” he tweeted.