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.
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.
Costa Rica's National Emergency Commission issued a yellow alert – the second highest advisory level – on Sunday for the country's Northern Zone and Caribbean coast, following heavy rains that have flooded rivers and homes and caused landslides in these areas.
Transit on Route 27 between Costa Rica’s capital and the Pacific province of Puntarenas reopened under Traffic Police supervision at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, GlobalVía, the company that administers the route reported.
Transit on Route 27, the main highway connecting San José with the Pacific province of Puntarenas, has been completely shut down by landslides that blocked both lanes of the road.