Photo Credit: Facebook KaMy Sánchez – Cañas Guanacaste

The Costa Rican government declared national emergency as a result of the heavy rains that have affected the country as an indirect effect of tropical storm Nate.
All public offices will be closed today and tomorrow (Thursday and Friday) this includes public schools, day care centers, banks, etc. The only exceptions are essential services such as hospitals and emergency services.

Guanacaste and Puntarenas are the two provinces that have reported the most emergencies, at this point three people have lost their lives, two adults as a result of a landslide in the area of Cartago; a three-year-old girl in the area of Tarrazú and six people have been reported missing, several communities are isolated; over two thousand users don’t have electricity, and countless more don’t have water.

Roads currently closed include Route 32 to Limón, Route 27 (San José-Caldera) specifically in the area that communicates Atenas and Orotina; Nicoya- Santa Cruz; the road between Buenos Aires, Puntarenas and Pérez Zeledón; Parrita- Quepos is partially affected; Route 145 to Monteverde is closed; there is no access to Drake, and the road that connects Ciudad Colón and Puriscal is closed.

The airports (Juan Santamaría and Daniel Oduber) are operating normally, however, some airlines have cancelled their flights, in total 20 commercial flights have been suspended, and therefore the recommendation is to check with your airline for all incoming or outgoing flights scheduled between today and Saturday.

The Tárcoles River, known as the “crocodile bridge” overflowed causing the closure of the road between Orotina and Jacó; the fact that there are crocodiles in this river makes things more dangerous, in fact, a couple of crocodiles were spotted wondering near the street.

Authorities recommend that people stay home if possible to avoid possible emergencies and accidents.

The National Meteorological Institute expects rains to continue throughout the afternoon and evening.

Tárcoles:

Tamarindo: