SIGN UP FOR OUR By Wendy Anders
Barceló Hotel at Tambor Beach was flooded extensively on Monday. Photo, CRHoy.com.
The rainy season is at its heaviest, as is typical in Costa Rica and much of Central America in October. Flooding is common, and caution must be taken especially when traveling in low lying areas and near rivers at this time of year.
In August, three U.S. tourists drowned in a flash flood in a river near the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano in the northern Guanacaste province.
On Sunday afternoon, 7 tourists, 6 Costa Rican and 1 Canadian, were rescued from the Toro River in San Carlos, Costa Rica’s northern region near the Toro II hydroelectric plant, reported the Red Cross; luckily none were injured.
Flooding in several parts of Panama was also reported by local media.
And Monday, Enrique Boza, Barceló Tambor Hotel’s legal representative, said his all-inclusive hotel was flooded extensively after two nearby rivers burst their banks. Tambor is a pristine beach on the southern edge of the Nicola Peninsula on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.
“We’ve had flooding events in the area but never so bad. We were so surprised at the amount of water! We are bordered by two rivers, the Zelaya and the Pánica, and although they are at a distance, as they came down from the mountains, there was a surge of water that came into the hotel. This has never happened in the 25 years I have been here!” said a very concerned Boza to CRHoy.com.
Heavy downpours that started around 4:30 p.m. Monday led to flooding of the Barceló hotel’s lobby, parking lots, and rooms by 6 p.m.
In total, Boza said that about 50 rooms, 2 restaurants, and pools had to be pumped to extract the dirty water.
Boza acknowledged that guests were very upset about the situation, but it was a situation that was beyond the hotel’s control due to the amount of rain.
The parking lots were also flooded and 4 customers reported damage to their vehicles, which had to be towed.
Boza is coordinating with the hotel’s insurance carrier to make amends to tourists affected by the unexpected disaster. The hotel helped tow and coordinate services for the damaged vehicles, and will be reimbursing customers whose vacation was disrupted, said Boza.
The Barceló Tambor is now tasked with finding ways to prevent such future events, said Boza to CRHoy.com.
