Hurricane Otto’s path across northern Costa Rica took a disastrous toll on communities there, as 10 deaths have been confirmed and thousands of people were affected. In Bijagua, Alajuela, the rising waters led to five deaths and widespread losses of infrastructure that will be a major focus of the government’s impending multi-million dollar repair job required in the coming days and weeks.
Casitas Tenorio, a family-run hotel in Bijagua, chronicled the devastation left behind with photos of a community that lost nearly everything to the storm. Because of the massive scale of destruction there, the local business created a fundraiser page for anyone looking to donate money or goods that go in to repairing the northern town.
According to the hotel web site: “A month’s worth of rain was dumped in a few short hours. A head of water turned a small stream into a raging river and swept though the town taking everything in its path. Houses, roads and bridges were completely destroyed. Five community members lost their lives and we are all in mourning.”
The photos below collected by the hotel show exactly what kind of impact Otto had on the village located between the Tenorio and Miravalles Volcanoes. We thank Casitas Tenorio co-owners Donald Varela Soto and Pip Kelly Varela for sharing these images with us.
