Every time the south Altantic breeds a hurricane, narrow Costa Rica suffers because the low pressure sucks in wet air from the Pacific to dump torrential rains on the Pacific coast.

So the story went this week with Hurricane Sandy, which hit Haiti and Jamaica hard with high winds and rainfall. But it also brought flooding that isolated 200 families in Costa Rica.

Roads were damaged, especially in the area of Santa Cruz, Leon Cortes, Aguirre and Osa. Thursday the National Emergency Commission posted a yellow alert for parts of the country.

Although inconveniencing many in isolated villages, the rains were welcomed in some parts of drought-ridden Costa Rica, although they come too late in the season to raise water levels in hydroelectric dams.

Flooding closed one lane of the Interamerican Highway in southern Costa Rica near San Isidro de El General Wednesday. Secondary roads in the area were hit harder with cave ins and landslides.

The Ministry of Public Works crews and equipment were kept busy. In the area of San Isidro de Dota the road suffered 23 minor cave offs so that some 50 families in the town remained isolated on Thursday.