The National Emergency Commission called a yellow alert for the county of Tilarán in Guanacaste since it has suffered the effects of heavy rainfall that has caused landslides, flooding and different emergencies that have forced the closure of some roads and the evacuation of families.

The road between Nuevo Arenal and the touristic area of La Fortuna in San Carlos is currently closed due to several landslides that affected this road. Public services were also affected, some communities were left without electricity and water for several hours.

Neighbors reported damages in their houses, agriculture fields, and farms that also had loss of cattle. The overflowing of Caño Negro river on the foothill of the Arenal Volcano forced the closure of the access to the area known as Viejo Arenal, this community is currently isolated.

Tourism in the area was, of course, affected since these roads, specially route 142 is used by some average one-thousand cars a day that travel from Guanacaste to Lake Arenal and La Fortuna.

Emergency services have been working on clearing the roads and reestablishing the electricity and water to the affected communities. The yellow alert is a preventive measure established to request local emergency committees to assess the damages, report them to the respective authorities, and coordinate with the community on preventive and emergency measures.

The National Emergency Commission has been in touch with the Costa Rica Tourism Institute to alert tour operators about the situation and request tourists to refrain from visiting the areas of Lake Arenal, Tilarán and La Fortuna until at least the roads are clear, secured and reopened.