Costa Rica Signs Emergency Decree for Nine Rain-Hit Cantons
Costa Rica · EMERGENCY
Key Facts
- —Decree Executive Decree 45910-MP was signed on August 20 and published on August 24.
- —Cantons Nine cantons across Limón, Cartago, Heredia and Alajuela provinces are covered.
- —Shelters Occupancy fell from 1,314 people on August 18 to 96 on August 24.
- —Rainfall Parts of the southern Caribbean recorded 360 millimetres in 48 hours in mid-August.
- —Budget The Costa Rica emergency decree names no amount, pending the general emergency plan.
The Costa Rica emergency decree now has a number, a signature date and a Gaceta publication.
Costa Rica has moved from recommendation to law. The Costa Rica emergency decree for nine rain-hit cantons was signed on August 20 and published four days later.
What the signed decree contains
The government published Executive Decree 45910-MP in an extraordinary edition of La Gaceta, the official journal. That publication came on the night of August 24, four days after the signature.
President Laura Fernández signed the text on August 20. She signed it with Rodrigo Chaves Robles, who serves as minister of the presidency.
Costa Rica’s Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias had recommended the step days earlier. That body, known as the CNE, is the national risk prevention and emergency response commission.
The operative wording declares a state of national emergency for the storm caused by tropical waves 32 and 33. That phrasing fixes the legal scope of the Costa Rica emergency decree.
The nine cantons named in the text
Six of the nine cantons sit in Limón province. They are Limón, Pococí, Siquirres, Talamanca, Matina and Guácimo, along the Caribbean coast and the banana belt behind it.
Turrialba lies in Cartago province, on the steep western edge of the same Caribbean slope. Sarapiquí belongs to Heredia province and covers a wide stretch of the northern plains.
Guatuso, in Alajuela province, completes the list of four provinces. The published text names whole cantons rather than individual districts.
What the declaration unlocks, and when
The decree opens the Fondo Nacional de Emergencias, the national emergency fund that the CNE administers. It also lets the state accept public and private donations for the response.
Institutions may reuse uncommitted balances left over from earlier declared emergencies. Administrative steps can be simplified or waived where the law allows it.
Public works and purchases move to urgency procedures under the public procurement law. Removing ordinary tender timetables is the practical point of any Costa Rica emergency decree.
Public institutions have 30 calendar days from entry into force to report damage needing priority attention. Those reports feed the Plan General de la Emergencia, the general emergency plan drawn up by the CNE.
The plan covers three phases: response, rehabilitation and reconstruction. Until it exists, no official price tag for this Costa Rica emergency decree has been published.
How the storm hit
Rain fell heaviest in mid-August, when tropical waves 32 and 33 crossed the country. Parts of the southern Caribbean and Turrialba took up to 360 millimetres in 48 hours.
Earlier tropical waves had already soaked the ground since late July. Soil saturation reached 80 to 100 percent across the affected regions before the worst rain arrived.
The decree cites 75 millimetres in six hours on August 15 in the mountainous Caribbean. The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional, or IMN, is the national weather institute behind such readings.
Shelters, evacuations and homes
Shelter numbers peaked at 1,314 people in 23 shelters on August 18, according to the CNE. By August 20 the count had fallen to 773 people in ten shelters.
A further 418 people went home on August 20 as rivers dropped. By August 21 the total stood at 462 people in eight shelters, in Pococí, Guácimo, Matina and Sarapiquí.
La Nación reported 175 people evacuated from high-risk areas during the peak on August 16 and 17. Turrialba lost seven homes to total destruction, and at least 18 houses flooded in Guácimo.
Some 862 schools suspended classes on August 17. More than 5,500 families had received aid by August 21, and 96 people were still sheltered on August 24.
Roads, bridges and cut-off communities
Route 32, the main San José to Limón corridor, was blocked at eight points on August 18. That road carries most container traffic to the country’s largest port complex.
On August 16 the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes listed several national routes as closed. The ministry, Costa Rica’s public works and transport ministry, is known as MOPT.
Closures included Route 4 at Recta del Tigre in Sarapiquí and at the Río Sucio bridge. Route 10 was cut at Chitaría in Turrialba and at Santa Marta in Siquirres.
Route 142 near Nuevo Arenal, Route 230 in Turrialba and Route 415 were also shut. The Consejo Nacional de Vialidad, the road council known as CONAVI, maintains those national routes.
Thirteen communities were reported cut off by land in Talamanca and the Chirripó area. Published names include Alto Chirripó, Tayní, Isla Cohen, Bajo Cuén, Suruy and Cerere.
Money and the missing budget
The published Costa Rica emergency decree carries no spending figure. The law funds the work through the Fondo Nacional de Emergencias rather than a fixed sum in the decree.
The last comparable Caribbean storm emergency, Decree 43131-MP of July 2021, gives a sense of scale. Its general emergency plan totalled 213.06 billion colones (US$470 million).
That conversion uses the Banco Central de Costa Rica reference selling rate of 452.88 colones per US dollar. The central bank set that rate for August 27, 2026, with a buying rate of 448.38.
No figure from the Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería, the agriculture ministry known as MAG, has been published for crop losses. Any farm damage total for these cantons therefore remains unconfirmed.
Weather outlook and travel notes
The IMN outlook for August 24 to 30 kept rain over the northern zone and the Caribbean. Showers were forecast mainly overnight and in the early morning hours.
Tropical waves 35 and 36 were due in that window, with stronger rain from Tuesday to Thursday. Accelerated trade winds were set to keep pushing moisture onto the Caribbean slope.
Orange alerts remained in place for the northern zone, Turrialba and the Caribbean on August 26. Yellow alerts covered the Central Valley and the Pacific side of the country.
Travellers should check MOPT and CNE bulletins before driving Route 32 or Route 4. Road status has changed daily, and the closures listed here date from mid-August.
Tortuguero, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca and Cahuita sit inside the declared cantons. No travel ban has been announced, and the declaration is an administrative tool, not a warning to stay away.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which nine cantons does the declaration cover?
Limón, Pococí, Siquirres, Talamanca, Matina and Guácimo in Limón province. Turrialba in Cartago, Sarapiquí in Heredia and Guatuso in Alajuela complete the list.
What does the declaration change in practice?
It opens the Fondo Nacional de Emergencias and allows urgency procurement instead of ordinary tenders. Institutions then have 30 days to report priority damage for the general emergency plan.
Is it safe to travel to the Caribbean coast now?
No travel ban has been announced for the declared cantons. Check MOPT and CNE bulletins, because closures on routes 32 and 4 have changed from day to day.
Connected Coverage
Sources
- semanariouniversidad.com
- delfino.cr
- www.infobae.com
- www.infobae.com
- www.infobae.com
- www.nacion.com
- www.crhoy.com
- www.monumental.co.cr
- www.imn.ac.cr
- www.cne.go.cr
- www.riotimesonline.com
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