rains

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.

The northwestern province of Guanacaste already has registered the highest deficit in rainfall since the National Meteorological Institute began keeping records in 1937.

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.

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 Costa Rican Chamber of Exporters reported that the highway closure increased transport expenses for its associates by up to 30 percent.

Costa Rica’s government will allocate ₡600 million ($1.1 million) to assist farmers hit by extreme weather conditions that affected most of the country during the...

“If it doesn’t start to rain more soon, it likely would mean that next year’s rainy season will be delayed,” said Juan Diego Naranjo, a meteorologist with the IMN. “You could say that this indicates the dry season next year will be extended.”

The National Meteorological Institute warned of heavy rain and electrical storms with gusty winds along the Pacific Coast, the Central Valley, Northern Zone and the mountains of the Caribbean during the next two days. These areas could see between 2 and 6 inches of rain by Thursday morning, according to IMN’s forecast.

After months of drought, President Luis Guillermo Solís declared a national emergency in the province of Guanacaste and other cantons across the country on Tuesday. The drought in the northwestern province has been the worst in more than 50 years, according to the National Meteorological Institute.

GUATEMALA CITY – Rain is gradually returning to Guatemala after an extended drought in the middle of rainy season brought tragedy to some of the poorest regions of the country. But many agricultural workers say it’s too late to save their harvests.