Costa Rican President Oscar Arias declared a national emergency on Wednesday after nine days of heavy rain and flooding in the Central American country, official sources said.
"The declaration allows the government to destine more resources to the affected regions," Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias said Wednesday, accompanied by the Risk Prevention and Emergency Attention National Commission's (CNE) head Daniel Gallardo.
The strong rainfalls have mainly affected Costa Rica's Pacific coast and central valley, causing floods and landslides in at least 65 of the 81 districts.
Of the eighteen deceased people reported so far, fourteen died in a landslide at the Fatima de Atenas community, 50 km west of San Jose.
Serious damage has also been reported to at least 27 important highways, including the Inter-American South highway, and some 2,000 houses have also been flooded in the Guanacaste province.
According to CNE reports, the emergency declaration will be implemented in 33 of the districts affected by the extremely bad weather, where some 260 million colons (about 500,000 U.S. dollars) have been granted after 10 days of heavy rainfall.
Source: Xinhua
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