Manuel Antonio After The Storm Of June 2010
As many of you may already know, last week Manuel Antonio was hit with a freak storm which hit the Central Pacific area Tuesday night.
Reports that it was a tornado, tropical depression or a microburst have been circulating, (I am certainly not qualified to define the meteorological phenomenon personally), but what is true is that it was one of the most spectacular storms I have ever seen in my time here.
For an area and coastline which is used to some intense rainfall during the rainy season, we are surprisingly almost never affected by strong winds or real destructive weather patterns. This is truly one of the calling cards and geographic blessings which make Costa Rica so unique.
We are certainly not immune to foul weather, but compared to the rest of Central America, the Caribbean and south east United States, Costa Rica is arguably the best location in terms of its receiving hurricanes or other damaging weather phenomenons.
Unfortunately, last week, we had our “once in a fifty” year storm and though short lived, the results were pretty dramatic. There are a lot of downed trees and most of Manuel Antonio was without electricity, phones, internet and water after the storm hit.
Now, a week later, the area is back to normal, fully functional, with our National Park back open, infrastructure in place and tourism industry back in order.
There are certainly some visible scars of the storm including some new “vistas” created from fallen trees and some clean-up work to go, but for all practical purposes the area is back to its normal, magical self.
The real purpose of this article is to commend the community, ICE (Yes! ICE) the monopolistic Costa Rica electricity company, the municipality, local businesses and community on the incredible response.
As history often teaches us, communities are at their best when forced to come together and I was amazed at the speed in which this community worked to reestablish services, infrastructure and amenities to its citizens and visitors.
ICE, especially responded with a fury unlike any other I have seen.
Oftentimes, as foreigners the bureaucracies and inefficiencies of some of the institutions here are what dominate our discussions and articles…
What the reaction to this storm evidenced is the tremendous quality of the human resources and ability of the people and institutions of this country to achieve excellence.
In the end, the beauty of this place is what attracts most of its visitors and international tourism, yet it is the quality of its people which make living and working here so rewarding.
We can often forget this when faced with the inefficiencies which are so well documented in these forums, and this past week, in the wake of a storm, the residents of Manuel Antonio were reminded of just how amazing and capable our community can be.
To those of you who sent regards and concerns, many thanks, to those who hadn’t heard about the storm, not to worry, Manuel Antonio is beautiful as always.
To everyone who loves Costa Rica… I wish you could have seen this community at work to clean up and get back to business. It reminded me of why I fell in love with this place and its people nearly 15 years ago and renewed me with confidence about the future of this area and country.
Manuel Antonio After The Storm Of June 2010
Article/Property ID Number 2605
[custom_script adID=188]
Andrew Makarik
to@welovecostarica.comAndrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.
Are you into beautiful Costa Rica?
All interesting things you want to know about Costa Rica are right here in our newsletter! Enter your email and press "subscribe" button.
I was actually there when it happened, Scariest/Best experience of my life!!! We lost the roof to our “Hotel/Motel”. No power, Phone, Internet, or cell service except for I remember the Blue Buybus (But can’t seem to find it on Google Earth or my any of my original photos I took…It was near Pacific Canyon DR) was the only place to have Internet/electricity! I was also there for the Earthquake on the 1st!!! Best trip of my life