Floods force evacuations in Costa Rica
From Djenane Villanueva, for CNN
updated 11:03 AM EDT, Mon July 30, 2012
Flooding in Costa Rica has forced evacuations and may be responsible for at least one death, relief workers said Sunday.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Four people are missing
- NEW: More than 1,500 are in shelters
- One person dies after being rescued, from injuries and heart failure
- A "yellow alert" is in effect for parts of the country
(CNN) -- Heavy rains in central and eastern Costa Rica have triggered floods that have forced evacuations and may be responsible for at least one death, relief workers said Sunday.
Four people are missing, down from eight earlier, according to Freddy Roman, a spokesman for the local Red Cross.
The government has declared a "yellow alert" in various parts of Cartago, a central province where one person was reported dead, said Roman. The person was rescued after a landslide, but died on the way to the hospital from injuries and heart failure, he said.
A yellow alert is also in effect for parts of Limon, an eastern province.
More than 1,500 people have taken refuge at shelters and others are waiting to be rescued, according to the Red Cross.
"We have reports of people trapped in their houses that have been flooded by overflow from the Chirripo River, also of several communities that are isolated in other parts of Limon," said Guillermo Arroyo, director of operations of the Costa Rican Red Cross.
Heavy rain is typical this time of year in Costa Rica, where the rainy season runs roughly from May-November.
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