Rain, Rain, and more Rain

 

It's a quiet morning here at the house of dreams.  The steady patter of raindrops on the roof has been our natural alarm clock for the past few days, but this morning the never-ending rain has finally stopped.  At least for now.

Yesterday was perhaps the rainiest we've seen yet.  We awoke to a downpour that continued for hours, then lessened to a steady rain for the rest of the morning.  There was a break in the afternoon for about an hour, allowing us to walk into town without getting soaked.   When we were settled in at  Luigi's (our internet spot) the rain started back up and didn't really stop all night.

Hopefully yesterday was mother nature's grand finale to what has been a very wet week.  The past several days have been more rainy than not.   Lots of lightning and thunder, gray clouds that just won't go away, and rain, rain, rain.  Sometimes it pours down in huge drops so big and heavy that it seems the earth is trying to nail the sky to the ground.

Usually the rain doesn't seem to have much of an effect on the people here, especially not their wardrobes.  A couple days ago I saw a girl out walking her dog in a strapless little sundress at the start of the evening's thundershowers.  90% of the rain jackets I've seen here are being worn on tourists - the ticos just use umbrellas.  When the women feel like getting dressed up they don't let the rain stop them from wearing their favorite high heels, either.  

Unfortunately, the rain has had a huge effect on many lives this past week.  Landslides throughout the country have been wreaking havoc on roads, houses, and people.   I'm sure a lot of you have heard on the news that Costa Rica has declared a national emergency.   Some have lost their lives, some their houses, and almost everyone has been affected in some way or another.  Roads are closed because of landslides and flooding.  Basic services to some homes, such as water and electricity, are unavailable.  Schools have been closed.

When I went with Denise to the airport (she flew out on the evening of the 4th) it was raining almost non-stop throughout the 100km/3 hour trip.  Luckily the roads that we used were still in pretty good shape except for a couple landslides that closed one lane.  We overheard other travelers talking about how hard it was to make their way to the airport.  Since most of the towns here are accessible through just one main road, if something happens to that road it could cause a detour of several hours or make travel out almost impossible. 

We've been so lucky to have a safe and cozy place to spend this very rainy past month.   Watching the news has been very sad, especially since they are very graphic in their choice of footage.  The 7:00 news last night showed the flooding and landslides in Escazu, with people wading through mud to get to houses completely destroyed by landslides and search for survivors.  We watched as people pulled back siding and roofs, finding bodies of the victims there and pulling them out of the wreckage to be carried away by a team of what could be their neighbors, friends, and family.  During our first week here in Costa Rica we stayed with our friend Marlon and his family in Escazu, and it is terrible to think about the effect this disaster may be having on his family and the friendly neighbors we became acquainted with.  We hope to hear from him soon.  Please send some warm wishes down here - the community can use all the support it can get.

Hopefully the rain will take a day off today and give the people a chance to start putting things back in order.  In La Fortuna, at least, we've had a dry morning and what is looking like it might be a dry but gray afternoon.  

I included this article from Tico Times in case anyone wants more detailed information about what's going on down here. I didn't even realize how bad it was, this article paints a very bleak picture.  Also, with all the road closures, it seems that we may be spending a little more time in La Fortuna than we'd originally imagined.  Only time will tell.

Words and pictures courtesy of/borrowed from: Katie Onheiber / Tico Times

Costa Rica declares national emergency amid lethal storm.

 Workers dig to retrieve bodies after a series of landslides hit several homes in San Antonio de Escazú early Thursday morning. The first landslide came around 12:30 a.m. Twenty bodies were found, while 10 remain missing.

A deadly landslide early Thursday morning at Pico Blanco above San Antonio de Escazú, a mountainside suburb west of San José, claimed at least 20 lives, and at press time on Thursday police said that at least 10 people were still missing.

Rescue crews from the National Police, The Costa Rican Red Cross and the National Emergency Commission (CNE), supported by teams of local residents and firefighters, are working to locate the remaining landslide victims. Emergency officials said they are likely buried beneath rock and mud or trapped inside their collapsed homes.

On Thursday afternoon, crews suspended the search due to warnings of more rain. They expect to resume Friday.  On Thursday morning, there was no tally of destroyed homes.

Early Thursday morning, Costa Rica’s central government decreed a red alert – the highest of the country’s three alert levels – for the whole country and declared a national emergency.

Costa Rican president Laura Chinchilla said on Thursday that the country’s national emergency fund has “sufficient funds for now” for immediate response to the disaster.  The government is pooling resources available from public institutions to aid in rescue and supply efforts.

Chinchilla said that Costa Rica is requesting “cooperation from ally countries” to aid in relief efforts, especially with aerial assistance. She said that Cost Rica will likely seek aid from the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank to help clean up the aftermath and assist with repairs to infrastructure.
So far, the cost of damage from the rain has not been calculated.

Tragic Deluge: A landslide early Thursday morning in San Antonio de Escazú claimed at least 20 lives. Rains from Tropical Storm Tomás and a local low pressure system caused devastating rains throughout the country on Wednesday and Thursday.

Residents of San Antonio reported various landslides throughout the night. According to emergency crews, the first landslide occurred at around 12:30 a.m. on Thursday.

In a press conference, Chinchilla said that the environs of Pico Blanco “have been considered risky zones and highly vulnerable to disaster for a long time.”

The Ministry of Education suspended the Social Studies high school exit exam for the entire country. The exam was slated for Friday. The Ministry also suspended classes for the whole country except along the Caribbean, the northern zone and in the northern parts of Guanacaste, northwest of San José.
Costa Rica’s executive branch declared Friday and Saturday as days of national mourning in light of the natural disaster.

Emergency trucks are collecting donations in Escazú – rice, beans, canned food, mattresses, sheets and blankets and hygiene products – for victims of the landslides (For other ways to help, see box).
The fatal landslide was caused by torrential rains that hammered the country on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

According to the National Meteorological Institute (IMN), 161 millimeters of rain fell on Guachipelín de Escazú on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Guachipelín is the closest IMN measuring station to San Antonio.

The downpours caused damages in 34 of the country’s 81 cantons and forced at least 1,400 people to evacuate their homes. The rains are the result of Tropical storm Tomás, which, on Thursday, was centered roughly 150 miles southeast of Jamaica and was moving toward the north-northwest.

The IMN forecasts that the storm will cause moderate to strong rains across the country through Friday.
The hospital in Quepos, on the Central Pacific Coast, is inaccessible by land due to flooding and landslides and is experiencing problems with its water supply. On Thursday, officials from the Costa Rican Social Security System (Caja) sent personnel to Quepos to assist with medical needs.

The National Water and Sewer Institute (AyA) said that the landslides and torrents have damaged tubing and supply systems across the country, leaving nearly 700,000 people without clean drinking water. Crews from AyA are working to reestablish water service in affected communities. Meanwhile, the agency is circulating cistern trucks in affected areas, mainly in the Central Valley and along the central Pacific coast.
Residents of Aserrí, a mountain town south of San José, told the Tico Times that they have no running water and that many homes are full of mud and floodwater.

Along the Central Pacific coast, 500 people have been moved to temporary shelters and collapsed bridges have stranded several communities.

Televised news reports on Thursday showed waters rushing down the streets of Parrita, a town on the Central Pacific coast, and pouring into homes. Residents waded through floodwaters to higher ground, carrying family members and pets.

In Santa Cruz de Guanacaste, northwest of San José, 150 people have been evacuated from their homes and are in temporary shelters after the downpours flooded families out of their homes, according to the CNE.

The strong rains also impacted at least 11 highways across the country and collapsed nine bridges.
Heading north from San José toward Guanacaste, the Inter-American highway is closed  at kilometer 85 because of a landslide. The southern portion of the Inter-American Highway is also closed, due to landslides at kilometer 29, outside Cartago, and in the southern zone at kilometers 220, 235, 248 and 250 near Buenos Aires, Vergal, Paso Real, Térraba and Palmar Norte.

The Pocares river has flooded the Costanera highway between Parrita and Quepos in the central Pacific region, and only heavy vehicles are allowed to pass. The Costanera highway is also closed at kilometer 172 between Uvita and Palmar Norte in the southern zone.

North of San José, one lane along the General Cañas highway is closed due to a landslide and a bridge has collapsed between Upala and San Rafael in the northern portion of the province of Alajuela.
Six landslides between Acosta and Puriscal, mountain towns southwest of San José, have forced the narrowing of the highway to one lane.