A man crossing a creek on motorcycle was swept away by strong currents produced by heavy rains in Alajuela, northwest of San José, yesterday afternoon.
He was able to hang on to a tree and was rescued, said Red Cross spokeswoman Noemy Coto.
“He was wet, but overall OK,” Coto said.
This was the first incident reported from the latest heavy rains that pounded the country yesterday. More wet weather was expected to blow over to Costa Rica late last night as Hurricane Felix -- a category 5 storm – headed toward Honduras.
The National Meteorological Institute (IMN) expects at least 80 millimeters of rain to fall over the San José area, said meteorologist Freddy Calderón. Felix's arrival is also likely to cause heavy rains along the entire Pacific coast.
Although National Emergency Commission (CNE) president Daniel Gallardo said the hurricane is not likely to directly hit Costa Rica, his commission placed the entire country under a yellow, cautionary alert, according to a statement.
The committee also preventively evacuated two families from their homes in the port city of Golfito, where a landslide wiped out four houses last week, and set up 200 shelters along the Pacific coast.
A very wet rainy season has already left many parts of the country's infrastructure saturated, and Felix's arrival is expected to make the situation worse, Gallardo said |
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