Heavy Rain And Flooding Cause of "Emergency" in Six Communities
The months September and October sees more rain than the rest of the year. In September 83.000 people were affected by the heavy rains that caused flooding and mudslides in many communities around the country.

And the worst is yet to come.

Yesterday, the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) declared a national emergency in various communities, including two in San José in the areas of Aserri and Desamparados, south of San José.

In the province of Alajuela, Palmares, San Ramón and Zarcero have been affected.

The CNE said it would invest some ¢3.5 million colones (us$6.7 million dollars) to help out the affected communities.

The objective of declaring an "emergency" is to allow state institutions to divert available resources to the attention of the communities affected by the heavy rains and lack of resources to control and/or repair water damage. The "emergency" status also allows the CNE to speed up the process of contracting machinery for repair work.

According to the CNE 83.869 people have been affected by this season's downpours in 67 communities.

The CNE says that 40 homes in Desamparados, 150 in Palmares, 30 in Aserri and 7 in San Ramón were flooded during the last month, displacing 950 people directly.

In addition, 5 water mains, 3 power lines, 14 roadways, 11 bridges, 3 dykes and 2 schools have also suffered major damage by the rain and flooding.

"Practically in the areas of Aserri and Desamparados it is the Rio Cañas that is cause the most damage, as the houses at the side of the river are the most affected", said Daniel Gallardo, president of the CNE.

The CNE should have its hands full in the coming weeks and flooding of the Pacific coastal town of Quepos and surround areas are normal. And then in January the flooding begins in the Caribbean coastal areas south of Limón to Puerto Viejo