New Atlantic Storm Might Have Some Effect On Costa Rica

New Atlantic Storm Might Have Some Effect On Costa Rica


By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
and wire service reports


Hurricane Jimena is bearing down on Baja California, but Costa Ricans should be keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Erika. Jimena is too far north to have any effect here, but Erika has yet to show where it will go.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that the center of Jimena should be directly over the southern Baja sometime today. Tropical storm and hurricane warnings are in effect for much of the west coast of northern México.

Jimena is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 5 to 10 inches over the southern half of the Baja Peninsula and portions of western México during the next couple of days, the hurricane center said.

A dangerous storm surge along with large and dangerous battering waves will produce significant coastal flooding along the Baja, it added.

The Hurricane Center in Miami said that Jimena's winds had dropped to 205 kph (127 mph). Earlier, the storm's winds were blowing at 215 kilometers per hour. As the hurricane barreled toward the peninsula, Mexican police,firefighters and military personnel drove through shantytowns, trying to persuade some 10,000 people to evacuate shacks made of plastic sheeting, wood, reeds and blankets.

Erika has been meandering for a few hours Tuesday night, but it should begin to move toward the west-northwest near 8 mph (13 kph) today. On this track the center of Erika is expected to pass to the northeast of the Leeward Islands Thursday.