The Costa Rican Emergency Commission (CNE) has begun its work of coordination to prepare for the impacts that El Niño phenomenon could bring to the country starting in November.

CNE held meetings with representatives of different state institutions that have a part in the understanding of this phenomenon in areas such as water, agriculture, environment, tourism, among others.

“The first meeting had the purpose of establishing the work route and articulation of the phenomenon for the development of a contingency plan”, explained the National Emergency Commission in a press release.

“The objective is to put together a plan for each institution to develop a series of actions for the period of time where we expect affectation, in order to give an effective attention to all sectors and avoid this situation from resulting in an extreme emergency scenario.”

The biggest effects of the phenomenon are expected in the months of November, December and January and could cause droughts specially in Guanacaste and an increase in rains in the North Zone and Caribbean.

El Niño is a climate pattern that has an impact on ocean temperatures, the speed and strength of ocean currents, the health of coastal fisheries, and local weather.

Some of the topics covered during the meetings included water supply, the attention of health problems and support to the agricultural sector, specially small and medium size producers.