Rains Continue Into
Day 7 in Limón
Its been seven days and
it is still raining in
the province of Limón
forcing the government
to call a national
emergency for the
Caribbean province. The
southern part of the
province, like in
Talamanca, Sixaola and
Bribri, some 30.000
people are affected.
Costa Rican president,
Oscar Arias, last night
on national television
announced that the
government would call a
national emergency today
(Wednesday).
"I have sent
instructions to acting
president, Francisco
Antonio Pacheco, the
ministro de la
Presidencia, Rodrigo
Arias and several other
ministers and president
of state institutions,
to offer aid to the
affected communities, to
evaluate the damage and
sign the state of
emergency declaration,
allowing the mobilizing
of all state and state
agencies resources to
help the affected", said
Arias affected.
President Arias, who
embarking this morning
on a trip attend the
International Conference
on Financing for
Development to Review
the Implementation of
the Monterrey Consensus
will be held in Doha,
Qatar, and the visit
Singapore , added that
the province of Limón
once again needs out
help, which has seen
during the past week
great losses in homes,
aqueducts and plantation
crops.
"Thousands of Costa
Ricans have had to be
evacuated from their
homes with empty hands
and with only the
clothes on their backs.
Hundreds of families are
still cut off and
authorities have not
been able to reach them
to provide held.
Entire communities are
living in shelters,
asking themselves what
of their homes and their
belongings. There are
banana plantation that
are a total loss.
Material damages are
incalculable, but will
surely be high. We
cannot stop the rain but
we can help the
victims", were the words
of the prez to the
nation.
Very few communities in
the southern part of the
Limón are not greatly
affected. Areas like
Amubry, Kachabri, Suiri,
Bajo Cuen, Coroma,
Mojoncito, Zepecue and
Zibudi are completely
cut off to the rest of
the country. More than
4.000 indigenous of the
Talamanca region are
living without
communication to the
rest of the province.
In those areas the
rivers, Uren, Lari,
Telire and Coen have
breached their banks and
have destroyed homes and
plantations along their
paths. The president of
the Comisión Nacional de
Asuntos Indígenas,
Abelardo Torres, said
yesterday he has never
before seen such an
emergency.
When will it all stop?
The Instituto
Meteorológico Nacional (IMN)
- national weather
service - says that the
low pressure system that
is the cause of the
devastation is
weakening, but did not
dare to give any hope
other than to say that
things should be getting
better starting today.
The low pressure system
over the Caribbean
province and the
Northern Zone is the
cause of the consistent
rains for the past week. |
