Tornado Strikes Again; Flooding Continues
The Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE), has declared a "red alert" following damage to 500 homes on the South side of San José by a tornado. The cyclone that wreaked havoc in the areas of Hatillo Centro and Alajuelita, blew off roofs and other debris, causing the explosion of a number of electrical transformers.

Fortunately there were no injuries reported as sheets of metal zinc went flying as the tornado lifter the roofs of a number a homes.

The tornado was capture, which occurred shortly after 4:00pm, was captured by the video cameras of several amateurs. The impressive shots of the tornado in full action, was shown on the morning news telecasts.

Tornadoes are not common in Costa Rica and more rare are that it will strike two days in a row.

Some 3.000 people were in the barrios of south San José were affected as the electrical posts came down, cutting off electrical power for hours.

The areas most affected yesterday were Alajuelita centre, Hatillos, the Ciudadela 25 de Julio, 15 de Setiembre and San Sebastián.

The Fuerza Pública (police), Cruz Roja (Red Cross) and members of the CNE, along with the San José municipal police force were all on the scene of the various areas to provide first aid.

Meanwhile, a number of areas of the Central Valley are still under water and residents of others are cleaning up the mess left behind Wednesday.

The rain and water are not the only cause of the floods. Neglicence and poor planning are contributing the damage caused by the heavy rains and rising waters in the rivers and creeks.

Residents insist on throwing trash into the creeks and rivers and the lack of planning by the municipalities of a clean up program, cause the water to be blocked and spill over into residential areas. Add to that the lack of planning by the municipalities in allowing people to build homes next to the creeks and rivers and flood zones.

According to the Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz (CNFL) - national power and light company - some 4.500 tonnes of garbage ends up in the floodgates of the Virilla river dam, which costs the company some ¢554 million colones (us$1 million dollars) a year. The Virilla is a major river that crosses through the Central Valley.

Combined with the large amounts of water dumped in the are by rain and the garbage in creeks and rivers like, Cucubres and Chilamate, in Desamparados; Seca, in Belén, and El Calabazo, in Palmares, the entire sewer system is affected, according to Daniel Gallardo, president of the CNE.

Gallardo added that problem is aggravated by the fact that people don't learn the lesson, they continue to throw garbage into the rivers and creeks and municipalities allow construction in flood zones and then pay the price when the water levels rise.

"The problem is that complete houses are building between Good Thursday and Good Friday and December 31 and January 1, to avoid municipal controls, which should be more rigorous", said Gallardo.

Adding to the whole problem is an antiquated and poorly constructed sewer system.

Gallardo said that it is not a problem of legislation, rather one of enforcement, as there are adequate controls in place, however, municipalities fail to apply them as they should.