Nearly 60,000 people in over 90 buildings in downtown San José will be evacuated in a drill Thursday to test the country's preparation for an earthquake with an epicenter located near the capital.
Experts from the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica say activity has decreased at Turrialba since its peak from October to May, however gas and ash explosions similar to that recorded Saturday could still occur.
The National Meteorological Institute forecasts continued rains for the Caribbean and northern regions, and precipitation in the Pacific region, including Guanacaste. Currently 1,630 people forced to leave their homes by flooding and landslides are being housed in 17 shelters.
Tuesday evening's closure of Route 32 from San José to Costa Rica's Caribbean coast makes the fourth time since June that authorities have closed the route due to heavy rains and landslides.
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.
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.
A noticeable decrease in rainfall prompted National Emergency Commission officials on Thursday to give the green light for hundreds of families in six shelters to return to their homes in the northern and Caribbean regions of Costa Rica.
Several communities in the northwestern province of Guanacaste registered rainfall levels below 1 centimeter (0.4 inches) in May, the National Meteorological Institute reported. Drought conditions are expected to hit the province again starting next week.
