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 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.
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.
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.
The National Meteorological Institute predicts heavy showers and thunderstorms will continue throughout the week in the Caribbean region and the Central Valley.
