Caribbean drenching: Power lines dangle in the rain-soaked road in Cocles, on the southern Caribbean coast, after two posts collapsed as a result of constant downpours and wind since early Monday. As workers from the Costa Rican Electricity Institute conduct repairs, area residents have been left largely without power and frustrated since Monday morning.

Meg Yamamoto | Tico Times

The National Emergency Commission (CNE) maintained a yellow alert for the province of Limón, the Northern Zone and Sarapiquí de Heredia on Tuesday as a cold front that has caused strong winds and heavy rainfall continued to slam parts of the country.

On Monday, a total of 136 millimeters of rain fell in Limón and winds in the Central Valley reached 74 kilometers per hour, according to the National Meteorological Institute (IMN).

As of Tuesday afternoon, the CNE counted a total of 483 evacuees in shelters in Matina and Sarapiquí, all of whom were flooded out of their homes. Shelters have been set up in El Tigre, La Guaria and Caño San José for Heredia province for evacuees and in Goshen, Santa Marta and Bataán for those fleeing from Limón.

CNE did not report any more wind damage on Tuesday. As of Monday, 39 homes had lost their roofs and power lines had snapped in Sarapiquí and Limón. Reported power outages continued on Tuesday.

The IMN did not have Tuesday rainfall totals before press time, but meteorologists said that Monday's forecast of between 100-150 millimeters of rain along the Caribbean coast for Tuesday and Wednesday is still accurate.

Conditions could begin to improve late Wednesday, meteorologists said, adding that Thursday and Friday could bring drier weather.