Sunday November 7, 2010
Well, the rain has finally subsided, and although we were not inundated or battered as much as Haiti or Cuba or a number of other Caribbean locations, our area of Costa Rica received an unusually huge quantity of water from mother nature with some rainfall totals for the week from Sunday October 31, 2010 to Friday November 5, 2010 being measured at over one and a half meters (unofficial report from Quepos area), which is nearly SIXTY inches of rain in five days. This is highly unusual even for a bad rainy season. Some say this is the most rain in one rainfall in over 50 years for our area. I know that this is certainly the most rain I have ever seen during my eight years in Costa Rica.
Luckily, most of Esterillos stayed high and dry with only minor flooding in low-lying areas of Oeste and Centro, and some substantial flooding in the beach areas of Esterillos Este and Playa Bejuco. The major flooding occurred in Parrita, which is situated very close to sea level with a major river flowing through. The town of Parrita is protected by a muro (levee), but when the water rose it breached this protective barrier and the result was catastrophic. Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes and hundreds of families have lost virtually everything. As of this writing, there are many people without the bare essentials including food, water, shelter, dry clothes, bedding, and sanitary supplies. The community of Esterillos has been working together to accept and distribute donations of food, water, and supplies directly to the people of Parrita in a time when they seem to be receiving little assistance from other sources. Although there are many rescue workers helping with the emergency, there seems to be little food and water and other essentials being offered to the population of displaced families.
The Leon family and their church (the Pura Vida Church of Esterillos Oeste) have been going back and forth to Parrita with supplies donated by the community. They have been acting vigilantly providing transportation for families aided by the rescue workers through the flood waters in their Land Cruiser. The Leon family and Pura Vida Church are true pillars of the community, as evidenced through their selfless acts of charity and bravery in the face of this catastrophe. Other area residents have been donating many supplies and food. Super Sol is the drop off point in Esterillos Oeste for donations of clean dry clothing, bedding, dry and canned food items, as well as water, and sanitary supplies. Kudos to Denise for providing this service as well for her donations. Susan Lieb (together with Lee, Cameron, and Ann among others) has been preparing hundreds of sandwiches, at first to give to the rescue workers to keep them going strong. Once we all arrived on the scene, myself and my wife with our SUV packed with donated clean bedding, clothing, pillows, assorted food items and such, we realized the gravity of the situation around Parrita. When you see hundreds of flooded houses and families huddled on the road to stay dry, the reality hits you. Some of these people had not eaten in a day, perhaps more. There is no municipal water or other services. No phones, no power, nothing but the task of a long and arduous clean up after the rain would finally stop to look forward to. Needless to say, we handed out literally everything we had to these poor folks who obviously needed more than we had to give, and we had not even made it all the way to Parrita. We were helping the families of “Little Los Suenos”, a housing project just North of Parrita which was completely underwater when we went.
The Red Cross is accepting donations both directly at Parrita, and also monetary donations into their Bank accounts. Donations to Cruz Roja (the Red Cross of Costa Rica) can be made by deposit to several bank accounts: the Banco Nacional (100100-7 in colones and 68666-7 in dollars and at the Banco de Costa Rica (176003-3 in colones and 204-6 in dollars). Deposits can also be made at the Banco Popular account number 911-4 or 161010-0841000911-4 by way of SINPE, electronic fund transfer.

Even though the rain has stopped, the effort continues. Homes need to be fixed and cleaned, services need to be restored, and people who have lost everything still need the bare essentials in Parrita. These people need assistance. They need food, water, and a dry place to sleep. We will continue as a community (after all, Esterillos is part of the municipality of Parrita) to help in the effort to support the people of Parrita, and the workers who assist in the aftermath of the flood.
We have been fortunate that many were not killed in our area through this week of flooding. So far I have only heard of one car being swept into the river in Parrita, which resulted in a fatality. Our sympathy and condolences go out to the families of all the people who were killed in the mudslides that happened in the Escazu area, and to all who have lost friends and family this past week.
Erik Alan Engstrom
Resident, Esterillos Oeste community
www.Playa-Esterillos.com

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