Traveling with Costa Rica Disaster and Emergency Color Coded Alerts
Mother nature seldom wows your vacation in Costa Rica with earthquakes, flooding, wildfires, volcano eruptions, storms or landslides that might lead your adventure to places you were not expecting to be.
read more closeCosta Rica ranks # 7 as one of the countries in the world most at risk from natural hazards and the rise of sea level due to climate change (World Risk Report, 2019). 80.1 percent of Costa Rica's GDP and 77.9 percent of its population lives in areas at high risk of disasters (Worldbank, 2019). There are 30 areas prone to landslides, 12 at risk of lake outbursts and seven volcano hazard zones.
During the 20th century there were 22 ground-pounding earthquakes and 11 volcanic eruptions with rising clouds of ash, toxic gases and lava flows. The most colossal volcanic eruptions were the explosions of Irazu Volcano between 1936 and 1965, and the blast of Arenal Volcano in 1968.
September and October are the months most prone to natural disasters due to heavy rainfalls from the rainy season or passing tropical storms causing flooding, mudflows and landslides in some areas of the country.
Costa Rica currently has eight early warning systems, locally known as "Sistema de Alerta Tempranda" or by its Spanish abbreviation SAT, available 24/7 that allows the government to generate and disseminate timely and meaningful warning information empowering at-risk people, communities and organizations to prepare and act appropriately and in sufficient time to protect their lives and reduce harm or loss.
The SAT is a network of government agencies, research and university centers that watches and monitors earthquakes, weather conditions, volcanic activity, disease outbreaks, tides and swells and many more hazards.
Disaster & Emergency General Alerts
Costa Rica's Risk Prevention and Emergency Attention National Commission, best known locally by its Spanish abbreviation CNE ("Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias"), leads the risk management system in cooperation with other specialized government agencies responsible for specific phenomena in the country and keeps the public informed about any potential emergency or disaster.
The disaster and emergency risk alert system delivers important information about a hazard or condition that may affect you when you are in a specific area of Costa Rica. The system helps you and the government take action in advance to prepare for, respond to and recover from a threat reducing the vulnerability or impact of disasters.
The CNE will activate predefined alarms, evacuate and secure the affected people, execute emergency plans, supply updated information to the official agencies led by the CNE. The local county emergency committees must continue with their mechanisms, delegated actions, responses, and have the resources necessary to help.
Under the national risk management framework, the CNE uses four color-coded alerts - Green, Yellow, Orange and Red - to estimate the impact of natural, health or anthropic hazard for disasters and emergencies and provide a response by implementing protocols and rules to prevent human harm or loss.
Each alert status represents a level of danger and sets guidelines for the population to keep safe and measures for the appointed emergency government agency to follow ensuring a proper response to lessen the impact of a specific threat that may cause a disaster or emergency.
The guidelines for the population are usually broadcasted in form of advanced warnings or advisories by the media outlets or the CNE in press conferences or their official social media accounts. The measurements that the government takes are operative actions and responses that are already pre-set in the national risk management plan for a specific hazard.
Status Green Alert – Be Aware
Danger Level: Minimal, Score: 0
Travel Recommendation: It is okay to travel, exercise normal precautions
Meaning: a hazard has been identified and may affect a region of the country.
The green alert status is set when government scientists or agencies can forecast the likelihood that a phenomenon might endanger a community, region or country.
The main goal of this alert status is to inform the public about the probability of the occurrence of a disaster in a specific area.
Guidelines for You,
Be aware of your surroundings
Drive cautiously on the roads
Be vigilant of your area's conditions
Follow official instructions broadcasted by the official government agency in its social media account or standard media outlets
Government Intervention
The early warning system's agency in charge of a specific hazard will notify the CNE that its instruments and data can forecast the probability of a hazard to endanger the wellbeing of a community or area.
The CNE communicates its findings to the local county emergency committees, the president, congress, other government institutions and the general public.
CNE will request local county emergency committees to identify districts, neighborhoods or areas at a higher risk for disaster within their county and monitor their conditions.
According to the national disaster and emergency plan, the actions that the government takes at this level are:
Sets in motion how the information about the phenomenon should flow and how it must be communicated to all government agencies and the public.
Follows up and continues monitoring the phenomenon
Gets in touch with units specialized in the phenomenon
Status Yellow Alert – Prepare
Danger Level: Moderate, Score: 1
Travel Recommendation: Travel not recommended. Divert your journey to another location in the country.
Meaning: a rapidly increasing imminent hazard will affect a region, a community or area. Take preventive action!
The yellow alert status is set when government scientists or agencies can confirm that a phenomenon will endanger people or a community.
The main goal of this alert status is to give an advanced warning to the public about the occurrence of a disaster in a specific area so that the at-risk population in the area can prepare for the hazard's impact and be safe.
Guidelines for You – Prepare for an emergency and take preventive measures.
Set or review your emergency plan at home, workplace or businesses
Prepare for potential evacuation by gathering medication and essential products to survive
Follow the updates of the CNE or its designated agencies in social media, their websites or from news outlets.
Government Intervention
When the government agency specialized in the hazard can confirm that the phenomenon will occur and impact an area, then CNE issues an advanced warning and preventive measure guidelines to all the people who live, work, travel or do activities in the potentially affected location to prepare for an emergency.
The CNE along with local county emergency committee coordinators of the threaten areas will:
broadcast all preventive safety measures, reinforce monitoring and research of the situation.
allocate and place on standby health, medical and other assets, supplies and resources in the affected area for immediate on-site emergency or disaster assistance.
put in place the guidelines, strategy and operational plans to search, rescue or assist the community in case the situation worsens.
Status Orange Alert – Act Prudently - Move Away or Stay Indoors
Danger Level: High, Score: 2
Travel Recommendation: Do not travel. Divert your journey to another location in the country.
Meaning: An Imminent hazard is developing with high-risk conditions that will impact human lives, ecosystems, utility services, infrastructure, and productive systems; on the verge of danger, the phenomenon is about to impact the area.
The orange alert status, created in 2020 to address tropical storm hazards, is issued when a hazard develops with high-risk conditions and will not only impact human life, but also live ecosystems, other forms of life, utility supply services, infrastructure such as buildings, bridges and roads.
The main purpose of the orange alert is to facilitate the flow of people out of a dangerous area – sometimes into specific facilities - or the isolation of people indoors with outdoor restrictions. Organize people, either confine them indoors to contain an outbreak or protect them from a hazard or start early evacuation by instructing them to leave the area on their own, or getting them out of the danger zone into shelters or hospitals. It all depends on the type of hazard.
Guidelines for You
People who are in the impacted location take action to protect themselves and/or their properties; this could be by moving their families out of the danger zone temporarily
Help contain the hazard by staying indoors or by other specific actions aimed at mitigating the effects of the threat.
Government Intervention
Takes measures to contain the threat
Operates early evacuation
Assists relocating people temporarily out of the danger zone
Status Red Alert – Relief Response
Danger Level: Severe, Score: 3
Travel Recommendation: Do not travel. Divert your journey to another location in the country.
Meaning: Relief government response to the aftermath of a sudden hazard that has occurred, or a gradual hazard that has reached its climax and past.
The red alert status is used to signal the relief government response after the impact of a sudden or gradual hazard that caused emergencies or disasters impacting human lives, roads, utility services, gas stations, productive infrastructure such as businesses, agriculture, cattle; and houses, buildings, churches or other public buildings.
Government Intervention
The office of the President of Costa Rica, the CNE and the institution or organization specialized in the threat are in charge of issuing a red alert and assist in the recovery of the impacted area.
The government assists in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, directly engaging with affected communities to efficiently provide relief and alleviate human suffering, evaluating the direct impact on lives and disabilities, losses in infrastructure and supplies and the loss or disruption in the delivery of healthcare, both curative and preventive, and providing financial relief
The government provides a response to the disaster's aftermath and devastation of the infrastructure by managing the relief efforts and actions necessary to restore the area as it was before it was impacted including search-and-rescue or evacuation operations, debris removal, and restoring electricity and water supplies.
The issuance of red level alerts should be a comparatively rare event and implies that the government dispatches all the humanitarian assistance and emergency operation teams to the area and executes a large-scale evacuation of the public to shelters and is followed by an evaluation of damage to infrastructure.
It is in the case of a red alert that we could see serious disruption to public transport, road closures and school closures.
According to the national disaster and emergency plan, the actions that the government takes at this level are:
Delivers, manages and operates how the relief will be provided to the area with the county and province local governments
Deploys security teams to the area
Provide immediate help to the people who live in the impacted area
Reinforces the search-and-rescue operations if necessary
About the National Disaster and Emergency Risk Management System
Costa Rica has a National Disaster and Emergency Risk Management System ("Sistema Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias" abbreviated in Spanish as SNPRAE), funded by a National Emergency Fund taken from the country's GDP, and led by the Risk Prevention and Emergency Attention National Commission, locally known as "Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias" or by its Spanish abbreviation CNE.
The CNE empowers local county government committees in all provinces with information, consulting and training to help them map and identify hazards/risks in their local areas and develop appropriate emergency plans. For example, CNE operates field trips to draw hazard and risk maps - specially on those disaster-prone communities whose local administration often appeal for emergency assistance - sharing information on standards to support urban planning, which will be used by local government for town development.
The National Disaster and Emergency Risk Management System (SNPRAE) has an early warning system that consists of a network of civil citizens, organizations (Red Cross), research and university centers, technical, research and other government agencies that are constantly watching, monitoring and controlling Costa Rica's areas that are potentially threatened by hazardous events on a daily basis. Early warning and evacuation plans are in place to reduce human and material losses in the hazardous areas. In addition, there are 300 radio handsets and sirens dispatched.
When a disaster is identified, the government agency in charge of the type of hazard, informs the CNE, and the CNE responds at the request of, and in support of the local governments in the counties of provinces that may be impacted by a disaster. Response actions are organized under the national risk management framework.
The CNE manages the flow of communication between itself, the public and the different government entities involved in an emergency.
The computerized system connects the CNE with all the scientific and technical government institutions specialized in a specific hazard, all the government departments, and some civil organizations like the Red Cross.
Among the government agencies with responsibilities for monitoring and researching specialized hazards are:
National Weather Services, known as "Instituto Meteorológico Nacional" or IMN, for Flooding, Rain & Storms.
Volcanological and Seismological Observatory, known as "Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica" or by its abbreviation in Spanish OVSICORI; and Advanced National Seismic System known as Red Sismológica Nacional or by its Spanish abbreviation RSN for earthquakes.
Volcanological and Seismological Observatory, known as "Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica" or by its abbreviation in Spanish OVSICORI for volcanic eruptions.
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