Tropical Depression Alma developed on 28 May off the Pacific coast of Nicoya, Costa Rica, reaching Nicaragua a day later, on 29 May. Ever since, this first storm of the 2008 Pacific hurricane season has had the country on red alert. The Costa Rican regions of Parrita and Puriscal have experienced merciless, non stop rain which consequently caused landslides to occur (so far, 35 have been reported) and overflowing rivers that have inundated hundreds of homes.
No country is ever ready to deal with nature’s swinging moods, but Costa Rica isn’t the least bit ready for these types of disasters: the construction materials used and the lack of planning involved in building a typical Costa Rican home makes for structurally defective houses. As a result, over 55,000 Costa Rican homeowners have been affected after Tropical depression Alma hit the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Most humble, rural tico homes are built dangerously close to rivers or atop detritic and weathered soils with important characteristics and properties that make it unfit for construction.
A lot of these homes are improvised shacks built from materials like tin, plywood and sheets of zinc corrugated metal sheets. These type of Costa Rica homes are improvised dwellings that obviously did not undergo any type of studies about the use of the land or even follow any govt. stipulations regarding the area in which the home was going to be built. Although it is a bit too late to cry over spilled milk.
The Interamericana Sur Highway which is the road that connects Pérez Zeledón - San José, any other routes and bridges are collapsed. Aqueducts and drainage networks are destroyed; the communities in the area of Parrita have been paralyzed because they don’t have electricity and the telephones are shut down. The red cross is opening up shelters that will serve as provisional homes for more than 700 people from Parrita, Quepos, San Marcos de Tarrazu and León Cortes.
If you feel generous and want some good karma coming your way I think helping those affected after Tropical Storm alma hit Costa Rica would be a great thing to do. These people need everything you can think of: blankets, non-perishable food like tuna and other canned goods, clothes, baby food and diapers, mattresses, etc. While the Government pulls all its strength to clear the roads and restore Parrita, Puriscal and Perez Zeledon and get Costa Rica back to normalcy, you can contribute by donating your help or your time. You can visit the Costa Rican Red Cross website http://www.cruzroja.or.cr to help with the relief efforts after Tropical Storm Alma.