Rains, mudslides, an earthquake and crocodiles couldn’t stop love
Levittown, Pa. lovers in Costa Rica felt the earth move under their feet and the skies tumbling down to borrow lines from a Carole King song. Literally. Eric Aguilar and Ana Lucia’s destination wedding included torrential rains, landslides, a minor earthquake and the potential for a crocodile or two as they exchanged vows in Puriscal, a small town about 30 miles south of national capital, San Jose.
While hurricanes Irma, Jose, Harvey and Maria, plus, scorched earth wildfires in California have dominated news reports, another weather event went almost unnoticed.
Tropical Storm Nate delivered torrential rains which caused loss of lives, triggered landslides and washed away bridges while delivering severe damage to roads that may need months to repair.
At least 25 people were killed across Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua.
In Costa Rica, approximately 400,000 people have no running water while many retreated to shelters.
Landslides have prevented access to many villages.
Over 60 percent of Costa Rica land region registers as mountainous terrain. Add two weeks of rain and landslides occur as expected weather hazards.
“Several roads that lead to the capital San Jose have had landslides. They were closed for several days,” reported Rodrigo Aguilar, a Trenton resident in Puriscal, Costa Rica for his son Eric’s wedding.
Rodrigo and his wife, Clara, are parents of the groom.
“It’s not raining as hard or as much. We’re having intermittent rain which added to several more landslides. We even had a small earthquake near Cartago that registered as a 3.5.”
Meanwhile, rivers overflowed their banks which caused a potentially dangerous wildlife issue. Officials have warned locals about crocodiles swimming on flooded streets.
Residents have been warned to avoid standing in water for extended periods of time.
“We’ve had lots of rain, floods, landslides and an earthquake but the wedding was great,” Rodrigo Aguilar said.
Still, rain on weddings allegedly means good fortune.
In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble. They’re only made of clay but perhaps the Aguilars love is here to stay.
(The newlyweds did not respond to phone calls or text messages.)
L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Reach him at laparker@ trentonian.com. Follow him on Twitter@ laparker6.