SIGN UP FOR OUR By Wendy Anders
Emergency Commission staff load supplies for delivery to northern Costa Rica today.
Costa Rican authorities extended the red alert (highest emergency alert) to the entire province of Guanacaste due to the change in course of Hurricane Otto that made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane at 10:35 a.m. today, reported the Costa Rican National Emergency Commission (CNE).
According to Juan Carlos Fallas, director of the National Meteorological Institute (IMN, in Spanish), the storm is estimated for an exit into the Pacific ocean tomorrow in the early morning hours, when it is forecast to revert to a tropical depression.
However, Fallas said, before that Otto is expected to make a swerve to the south from Nicaragua and further affect northern Costa Rica, including likely all of Guanacaste.
Though Guanacaste is under maximum alert for the possible of torrential rains and high winds, evacuation are not being carried out at this time.
Because Otto could pass within 25 or 30 kilometers of Liberia, operations at the Daniel Oduber Quirós international airport will likely be affected. The airport has been operating normally since Thursday afternoon, said the CNE.
To prepare for potential victims as the hurricane continues its path across the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border region, the CNE has been sending foam mattresses, blankets, food rations, bottled water, an electrical plant and other supplies to municipalities in the north of the country.
An inventory of road damages is being drawn up so repairs can begin as soon as possible, and damages to homes and electrical wires have also been reported in different parts of the country. No injuries or deaths have been reported.
The Ministry of Health has stated that outbreaks of respiratory illnesses and diarrea are common after heavy rains, and urge people to wash hands, and take steps to not spread viruses.
The Red Cross is receiving donations in the country to aid those displaced by the storm. Dry foodstuffs and canned foods, such as pasta, oil, bottled water, as well as toothpaste, shampoo and other personal hygiene items can be dropped off at any of their locations
