Today I am afraid I have bad news: yesterday Tropical Storm Hannah left over 45 homes flooded in Guanacaste. Costa Rica has in fact been suffering a little with the rains and strong winds caused by Hannah passing by the near islands in the pacific. So far it there were only storming rains during the afternoon hours and a yellow alert, but yesterday, Hannah pulled her strongest pours on the north side of Costa Rica.

 

Apparently the storming rains will continue during today and tomorrow and the road between Malpais and Montezuma has been closed, so plan ahead if you were thinking of riding through that area. Costa Rica was not supposed to be so affected by the Tropical Storm Hannah so much, actually Gustav and Ike don’t seem to be close to the Costa Rica area at all yet, and yellow and green alerts have been set to prevent further problems.

 

 

Guanacaste emergency flood

Emergency in Guanacaste (picture by Periódico Al Día)

 

The main problem that caused the flood was that several rivers of the Guanacaste area, especially in Santa Cruz where locals experienced drastic overflowing of the nearby rivers which caused gutters to rise above the streets. The Comision Nacional de Emergencias is currently taken care of the damage situation and helping the affected families, thankfully, no human loses are reported so far. Costa Rica is so aware if natural disasters, their emergency teams are clear on how to proceed and the entire situation should be handled in the next 24 hours. Guanacaste beaches will continue experiencing rains and strong winds during the weekend.

 

I am trying to find out is any of the local help associations is receiving canned good for the affected families or clothing since they are located in temporary shelters right now. Although Costa Rica is always prepared for these types of issues, a little extra help is always needed. I will make sure I post any updates that may come.