Thousands of people were evacuated off the Caribbean coast as Hurricane Otto began heading towards land on Wednesday, reported The Guardian. Costa Rica president Luis Guillermo Solis declared state of emergency and urged citizens to keep vehicles off the roads.
Solis, on Twitter, announced holidays for public officials for the next two days and requested families to remain indoors to protect themselves from the impact of Hurricane Otto. He added that 16 hostels had been arranged for for more than 1,300 people.
Heavy rain is expected to hit the country on Thursday and Friday, and flooding and landslides are a possibility, reported The Washington Post. Costa Rica and Nicaragua had issued red alerts for the areas that could be the worst hit and ordered schools to stay closed, reported AFP.
Hurricane Otto has already claimed three lives in Panama, and the late-season storm is now heading towards Nicaragua, which is north of the Costa Rican border. Costa Rican officials have ordered the evacuation of more than 4,000 people, while Nicaragua is evacuating almost 10,000 citizens.
Hurricane Otto was upgraded from a tropical storm by the US National Hurricane Center and is expected to make landfall on Thanksgiving Day. The agency also said that the hurricane had regained strength late on Wednesday night, with winds of 85 mph.
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