The Calm After The Storm,
Alma Dumps On Costa Rica
This morning, the
country woke up to
sunshine after a rare
tropical storm directly
affected some 2.500,
damaging bridges and
roads across the
country, as rivers
overflowed their banks,
high winds knocking down
trees and electrical
cable, knocking out
power in some
communities.
Tropical Storm Alma, who
made its way north into
Nicaragua and Honduras
late Thursday afternnon,
was the cause of
evacuation of some 1.000
people in Parrita, as
the Parrita river
swelled, flooding most
of the town of Parrita
and forcing the closure
of the bridge over the
Parrita river, stranding
thousands on both sides
of the bridge from
travelling to and from
Quepos and San José.
The Comisión Nacional de
Emergencias (CNE) -
National Emergency
Commission - announced a
red alert for the
Central Pacific and
Guanacaste regions,
deploying equipment to
the affected locations.
Daniel Gallardo,
president of the CNE,
said crews will be
working around the clock
in the clean up.
As many as 60 different
traffic accidents were
recorded in the early
hours of Thursday
morning, all caused by
the heavy rain,
according to reports by
the Ministerio de Obras
Públicas y Transportes (MOPT).
The Instituto
Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE)
reportes that some
40.000 homes were left
without power and the
storm forced the
evacuation of the 1.100
workers at the Pirris
hydroelectric
development project in
the Puntarenas province.
Winds were reported to
reach 55 Mph according
to the Instituto
Meteorológico Nacional (IMN)
- national weather
service - short of the
74 Mph a storm is
considered a Category 1
hurricane.
Although the Tobías
Bolaños Airport in Pavas
was closed yesterday,
affecting the tens of
daily flights within
different points of the
country, the Juan
Santamaría (San José)
International and Daniel
Oduber Quirós (Liberia)
International airports
were open and operating
normal.
Many tourists on their
way home from costa Rica
lost their flights as
they were unable to make
it to the airport due to
the road blockages,
especially tourists
visiting Quepos and
Manuel Antonio, stranded
on the wrong side of the
Parrita bridge that was
completely closed off by
authorities.
According to the CNE in
the early hours of this
morning (Friday) the
Parrita bridge remained
closed waiting on an
inspection by a
structural engineer to
assess the damage
suffered from tree
trunks carried by the
ragin waters hitting the
support columns.
If the bridge is deemed
non-transitable, it
would effectively choke
off communities south of
Parrita for months.
According to the IMN,
this is the first time
in more than 100 years
that a tropical storm
has hit the Pacific
coast in this location.
Alma is the first
tropical storm of the
year.
The Hurricane season
begins on June 1.
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