Rain rain go away

President Luis Guillermo Solís is considering upgrading the alert for these regions from Yellow to Red — the most serious in the country’s three level emergency system. Passage on Route 32, the main road connecting the capital San José with Limón province, was reopened Tuesday at 7:30 a.m.

Currently the only alternative route between San José and the Caribbean is Route 10, which runs through Turrialba and Siquirres.

President Luis Guillermo Solís visited damaged areas in the Caribbean province of Limón on Wednesday and Thursday after heavy rains last weekend caused floods in Costa Rica's Caribbean and northern regions.

National Emergency Commission officials on Friday closed all 16 shelters following evacuees' return home.

According to Costa Rica's National System of Conservation Areas, mudslides and flooding damaged access roads and collapsed sewers in several parks, some of which were forced to close access to visitors. Those closings mostly occurred in the Central Volcanic Range, the La Amistad-Caribe area and Tortuguero National Park.

More than 51,000 students are out of the classroom because of recent flooding and 431 school buildings have been damaged.

National Emergency Commission on Tuesday reported that 18 communities in the provinces of Limón, Heredia and Cartago are currently isolated by flooding.

Reports from the National Emergency Commission said that 1,585 homes were lost to flooding. Currently 745 people are living in 12 emergency shelters with the majority in Matina, Limón, and Sarapiquí, Heredia, where 380 and 342 people are temporarily housed, respectively.

The removal of more than 4,000 cubic meters of debris that over the weekend blocked Costa Rica's Route 32 between San José and Limón continued on Monday, with officials from the Public Works and Transport Ministry estimating that transit on the highway would remain closed at least until Tuesday.

The Costa Rican Red Cross issued a statement Saturday afternoon saying that there have been no reported deaths or injuries in the affected areas, but that the rain's intensity could remain the same until at least Monday afternoon.