Homeless people desperately need a solution for a neighborhood that turns into a swimming pool every time it rains

The beginning of the rainy season has once again threatened the residents of Gravillas, El Jardín, Los Guidos and other areas of the Desperate Communities. Last Saturday and Tuesday, floodwaters from the Cañas and Cucumbers rivers once again flooded their homes, sometimes reaching a depth of one meter or more.

On Tuesday afternoon alone, Desamparados had 73 accidents caused by flooding, sewer collapses and ravines. This Wednesday, locals continued to dry furniture and wash floors and walls in an attempt to restore normalcy, while the municipal council and cleaning crews toured the affected areas of Gravilias, Calle Fallas, San Rafael Arriba, Los Guido, San Rafael Abajo, San Juan de Dios and San Miguel, clearing mud, logs and garbage from streets and bridges.

However, clearing streets and removing debris does not solve the historical problems that may require widening bridges and culverts. While neighbors claim they can no longer wait for a response, the city claims that one of the projects will begin by the end of this year; but there is still a lack of technical studies and no budget for all the major works needed.

Juan Luis Quesada Gómez, a resident of El Jardín, on Calle Fallas de Desamparados, said they had invested more than £1 million in electrical appliances and household goods two years ago, which were affected by the water and mud. Now, facing the new attack, they are desperate. Quesada said there is an urgent need to build a higher bridge with greater capacity, as the current one is a one-meter-high square culvert that collapses once the garbage reaches it.

Quesada stressed that residents cannot wait until the next dry season to make the arrangements promised by the city government, as heavy rains are expected in the coming months. He suggested removing existing bridges to allow water to flow, even if it means cutting off streets.

He said he had lived there for 36 years with his father and nephew. He was dedicated to cleaning furniture and this Tuesday, while he was in Zapote, his father called him because the Cucubres River in El Jardín had overflowed. When they arrived, the house was already flooded and the water had surpassed the wall built many years ago, reaching a height of nearly a meter.

The river dragged branches and trash, creating a blockage on the bridge, causing water to start flowing out, affecting more than 15 homes. Quesada barely had time to save a car or move some furniture onto pallets, and the same was true for other neighbors.

Julia Gamboa Vega, 64, had to put drawers, shoes and basins on furniture as she lived near the river. Firefighters had to pull her and a brother out of a window when the water rose so high that they couldn’t even open the door.

Gamboa, who works as a domestic worker, has no way to replace things because in October 2022, in addition to repairing doors and floors, he also invested in clothing, furniture, kitchens and other goods.

He said they desperately need a higher bridge to get the water through better because the existing one is not enough and every time it rains they have to raise everything. Gamboa has lived there for 55 years and he remembers when his parents bought the land the river was just a canyon. Now, with the increase in population, it is receiving more water and growing rapidly.

Buildings to prevent infiltration

In Gravilias, the problem is similar. Mary Jane Cerdas Bonilla, 48, noted that they have been living in this situation for more than 40 years due to urbanization upstream. Rainwater that previously infiltrated now reaches pipes through roofs and sidewalks and then reaches the Chilamat River.

Water flows from the Lomas de Salitral and El Porvenir mountains, forming a pool in Gravilias, which overflows pipes around schools because the streams are piped and cannot cope. Within 15 minutes, streets and houses fill up, and it takes an hour for the water level to drop after the rain stops.

Cerdas said they suffered 13 floods throughout the rainy season last year, losing sofas, appliances and other items. Currently, they have the minimum because they cannot replace it.

Serdas has rooms on the second floor of her home where she, her daughter and their pets take shelter whenever it rains. They have lived there for 15 years and believe there is an urgent need to open the pipes under the development and increase its hydraulic capacity. He added that the two collection boxes installed by the municipality are of no use and are filled with trees, branches, cans and soil.

He insisted that the city’s “solutions” were useless and that if he had the financial means, he would have left years ago. In some houses, water levels rose by five feet, causing health problems for neighbors due to moisture. He suggested opening and widening the waterway from the school gymnasium to the nearby river. He criticized the city for continuing to issue building permits to condos that cut down trees and dumped garbage, The comprehensive arrangements they needed were not made.

Previously, she worked as a counselor at Gravillas schools, but had to resign from these positions due to a stroke. Now he has a handicraft business, which was also affected by the water.

Municipalities are slow to make progress

Jéssica Bonilla, risk management coordinator for the municipality of Desamparados, said that while the CNE is calling for tenders for an investment plan study for the project approved late last year, they must continue with some of the interventions in Gravilias. The £40 million study will include a hydrological, topographic and hydraulic analysis of the Chiramat River basin to determine the final type of work required and its location.

The goal is to expand the width of underground and surface pipes from 1.5 meters to 2.8 meters. For the final plan, a loan amount of nearly 850 million pounds will be needed, managed through the Institute for Municipal Development and Consulting (IFAM). In the meantime, municipal workers are cleaning sediment and debris from the open part of the Chiramat River, the Marianela Urbanized Lagoon, and the sewers as a palliative measure.

In the El Jardín neighborhood, a solution seems closer, as the CNE approved the construction of a new bridge with a budget of 120 million pounds, with construction expected to begin at the end of this year during the dry season. At the same time, dredging of the Cucubres River to make it navigable is being coordinated with the CNE.

Bonilla lamented that this is one of the most polluted rivers in the state, where people throw chairs, debris and garbage, changing the river’s course. Emergency response teams in various regions are actively engaged and will continue until December to carry out campaigns to prevent people from littering.

On Tuesday, the National Emergency Commission (CNE) responded to a total of 179 floods, mainly in Desamparados and Nicoya, where roads, businesses, houses and highways were affected. Even in Samara de Nicoya, an educational center was flooded. This Wednesday afternoon, 10 incidents were reported due to rains in the regions of Santa Cruz, Carrillo, San Carlos, Alvarado, Oremuno and Cervantes.

More precipitation

As Hurricane Beryl moves through Jamaica and the northwestern Caribbean, its indirect impact will be to reactivate the Intertropical Convergence Zone over our country, resulting in heavy downpours over the Pacific and Central Valley.

The National Meteorological Institute (IMN) predicts rainfall of 30 to 50 liters per square meter or millimeter (mm), with maximum rainfall near the coast reaching 100 mm in 12 hours, which means moderate to heavy rain, highly saturating the soil, which can easily overflow rivers and streams.

The heaviest rainfall is expected late in the afternoon and into the evening. In urban areas, the rain could trigger flash flooding and sewage saturation, as occurred in Desamparados and Aserri on Tuesday. Fog and fog banks are also expected in the Central Valley and Pacific Mountain regions, which will continue into Thursday morning.

Moderate scattered showers are expected in the lower Caribbean and northern regions, with thundershowers in the afternoon. In addition, rain will develop near the coast of Limon during the night. Hurricane Beryl was located about 1,050 km northeast of Limon at 10:30 am on Wednesday and was moving toward the mainland at about 30 km/h. It is expected to pass near the southern coast of Jamaica on Wednesday.