Heavy rains recorded Monday morning in various regions of Costa Rica were the result of a low-pressure system, the National Meteorological Institute reported.

Motorists in Costa Rica are facing heavy traffic jams at the start of the rainy season, thanks to flooding, accidents and additional cars on the road.

San José officials say they have taken appropriate measures to prevent the kind of flooding that turned some city streets into lakes in recent years.

Heavy thunderstorms and flash floods washed away cars and flooded homes across the Costa Rican capital of San José, with the neighborhoods of Los Yoses, San Pedro, Montes de Oca and Desamparados among the hardest hit by the rains.

The latest sinkhole to appear this year was a 6-meter wide, 11-meter deep sinkhole that opened up over the weekend on the street near the Transportes Costarricenses Panameños bus station in Plaza Víquez. City workers started repairing the gaping hole that opened between Avenue 20 and 5th Street on Tuesday.

Costa Rica can expect torrential rain, wind gusts and lightning storms all week.

The flood on Second Avenue in front of Barrio Chino’s iconic friendship trapped taxis and buses as water lapped at the fenders of smaller cars. Business owners tried in vain to bail out their shops or construct makeshift walls to keep the water out.

Post-flooding repairs included tourist trails at the park's main entrance. Some sectors remain closed as park staff are still rebuilding some bridges that fell in late June.

Heavy rain is expected to hit Costa Rica again this week as tropical wave number 15 arrives in the country this season.

Flooding in recent weeks and road blockades staged by porteadores on Wednesday caused losses in the tourism sector at a time when businesses expected to profit from the mid-year school vacations.