Otto, the tropical storm that returned to Category 1 hurricane status on Wednesday evening, has already begun affecting parts of Panama and Nicaragua. The sixth Atlantic storm of the season has forced thousands of Costa Ricans to evacuate their homes near the Caribbean coast.

Speaking Wednesday morning, President Luís Guillermo Solís said that evacuations issued for certain places under red alert were mandatory and urged people to not try and ride out the weather if they live in those areas.

“We are not going to allow the loss of lives for material reasons,” Solís said at a Wednesday morning gathering with the country’s security officials.

A mudslide and a fallen tree in Panama lead to three deaths Tuesday from high winds and rain caused by Otto.

If you have information, community news or photos on this developing story in the coming hours and days, please contact The Tico Times via Facebook or at kstanley@ticotimes.net. </s> SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – Tropical Storm Otto killed at least nine people in Costa Rica and then headed into the Pacific Ocean Friday after making landfall as the southernmost hurricane on record to hit Central America.

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis announced that nine people had been killed in the area of Bagaces and Upala, a town south of the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border. Earlier, he said at least six people were missing in the nearby town of Bijagua.

Solis said as much water fell on the area in a few hours as normally falls in a month, and said some people had been trapped by rising waters.

The United States sent airplanes and neighboring Panama sent planes and helicopters to aid in the search and rescue efforts in the area, where rain-swollen rivers overflowed their banks.

Otto made landfall on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast on Thursday as a dangerous Category 2 storm but it faded to tropical storm force before emerging over the eastern Pacific early Friday.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that by Friday morning, the storm was centered about 245 miles south-southeast of San Salvador, and had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. It was moving toward the west at 16 mph. It was projected to keep moving westward away from Central America, further into Pacific. </s> PANAMA CITY — Late-season storm Otto strengthened into a hurricane Tuesday as civil officials reported three deaths in Panama amid heavy rain and Costa Rica ordered the evacuation of 4,000 people from its Caribbean coast.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Otto was likely to gain strength as it headed for an expected Thursday afternoon landfall around the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border. It could become the first hurricane to make landfall in Costa Rica since reliable record-keeping began in 1851.

The storm caused heavy rains in Panama as it moved off that nation's northern coast, and officials blamed Otto for three deaths.

Jose Donderis, Panama's civil director, said a landslide just west of Panama City early Tuesday trapped nine people. Seven were rescued but two were pulled from the mud dead. In the capital, a child was killed when a tree fell on a car outside a school.

The country "faces one of the worst meteorological situations, with imminent risk," Donderis said.

Panama announced it was cancelling classes and it began to release water from locks and lakes feeding the Panama Canal.

Costa Rica's National Emergency Commission said it was evacuating 4,000 people from the area where the storm was expected to hit and where rivers could overflow. The effort was expected to involve evacuations by plane, boat and road in the low-lying coastal areas.

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis said Otto could damage the country's important coffee and agriculture sectors.

Early Tuesday evening, the hurricane had top sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and was moving westward at 2 mph (4 kph), the U.S. hurricane said. Otto was about 230 miles (370 ) east of Limon, Costa Rica. </s> Forecasters say Otto has regained hurricane strength in the Caribbean as it churns closer to Central America.

Otto had fluctuated between tropical storm and hurricane status earlier this week. But the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says Otto now has hurricane-force winds of 75 mph (110 kph) as it continues toward an expected landfall later this week.

As of 7 p.m. EST Wednesday, Otto was about 140 miles (230 ) northeast of Limon, Costa Rica — or about 180 miles (285 ) east-southeast of Bluefields, Nicaragua.

A hurricane warning is in effect from Limon, Costa Rica, to Bluefields, Nicaragua. Forecasters say the of Otto is expected to make landfall in that warning area sometime Thursday and reach the Pacific coast of southern Nicaragua or northern Costa Rica sometime early Friday.

An unusually Tropical Storm Otto swirled over the Caribbean just off Central America on Wednesday heading toward a possible landfall as a hurricane in Costa Rica, which hasn't seen such a storm since reliable record-keeping began in 1851.

Heavy rains from the storm were blamed for three deaths in Panama, and officials in Costa Rica ordered the evacuation of 4,000 people from its Caribbean coast.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the westward-moving storm had weakened slightly overnight down to tropical storm status, with winds of 70 mph (110 kph). But it said the storm would likely recover hurricane force and make landfall Thursday in the border region of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

The storm caused heavy rains in Panama as it moved roughly parallel to that nation's northern coast.

Jose Donderis, Panama's civil director, said a landslide just west of Panama City early Tuesday trapped nine people. Seven were rescued but two were pulled from the mud dead. In the capital, a child was killed when a tree fell on a car outside a school.

The country "faces one of the worst meteorological situations, with imminent risk," Donderis said.

Costa Rica's National Emergency Commission said it was evacuating 4,000 people from the area where the storm was expected to hit and where rivers could overflow. The effort was expected to involve evacuations by plane, boat and road in the low-lying coastal areas. </s> Hurricane Otto has strengthened to a category two storm as it approaches the sparsely populated Caribbean border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica as an unusually strong late-season event.

Heavy rains from the storm were blamed for three deaths in Panama, and Otto was forecast to make landfall in Nicaragua on Thursday, just north of the Costa Rican border.

Officials in Costa Rica ordered the evacuation of 4,000 people from its Caribbean coast and closed schools nationwide for the rest of the week. Heavy rain has already caused flooding in some areas and the Costa Rican president, Luis Guillermo Solís, announced that public employees would not have to work on Thursday or Friday.

The country’s National Meteorological Institute noted that a hurricane had never made landfall in Costa Rica since records began.

Nicaragua also closed schools and was evacuating more than 10,000 people from communities in the storm’s path. Heavy rains were expected to affect the whole country on Thursday and Friday, raising the possibility of flooding and landslides.

The US National Hurricane Center said the storm had regained hurricane strength late on Wednesday night after fluctuating between tropical storm and hurricane status earlier in the week. By Thursday morning, Otto’s maximum sustained winds had increased to nearly 105mph (165km/h) with additional strengthening possible before landfall.

Solís said Otto could damage the country’s important coffee and agriculture sectors.

Nicaragua also feared damage for impoverished farmers and to coffee crops that are almost ready to harvest. </s> Hurricane Otto is expected to make landfall in Nicaragua on Thursday as the surprisingly late-season storm brews over the Caribbean, just off Central America. Three people died in Panama due to heavy rains associated with the hurricane.

Nicaragua has closed schools and is carrying out evacuations for over 10,000 people from areas in the storm’s path, while Costa Rica has declared a state of emergency.

Heavy rains are expected to lash Nicaragua and Costa Rica on Thursday and Friday, possibly causing floods and landslides in their path. While people were being evacuated by plane, boat and road in low-lying coastal areas, Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis said the hurricane could damage the country’s coffee and agriculture sectors. Otto could also pose a threat to the coffee crops in Nicaragua, which are almost ready for harvest, causing losses to impoverished farmers in the region.

Otto “could seriously jeopardize food security for small-holder farmers who rely on maize, beans, cocoa, honey, coffee and livestock for their livelihoods,” Jennifer Zapata, a regional director for U.S.-based anti-poverty group Heifer International, said according to the Associated Press.

A landslide in Panama trapped nine people early Tuesday, of which only seven were rescued. In Panama City, a child was killed when a tree fell on a car outside a school.

The Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center reportedly said Otto was a category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour (85 miles per hour), moving west at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour. The storm was 100 miles north-northeast of Limon, Costa Rica, on Wednesday night.

According to Costa Rica’s National Meteorological Institute, a hurricane has never — since record-keeping began — made landfall in the country.

Here are some pictures of the hurricane as it descends on Central America, and the evacuation efforts being carried out:

Photo: REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas Photo: REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas Photo: Ministry of Public Security/Handout via Reuters Photo: Ministry of Public Security/Handout via Reuters Photo: Ministry of Public Security/Handout via Reuters </s> Otto slammed into the coast of Central America near the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica earlier on Thursday, dumping torrential rains on the region and prompting thousands of people to be evacuated.

"I regret to inform (you) ... that there are people dead and missing," Solis told a news conference, adding it was too early to say how many people had died. </s> MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Hurricane Otto made landfall as a dangerous Category 2 hurricane on a sparsely populated stretch of Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast Thursday, becoming the southernmost hurricane on record to hit Central America.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the unusually strong late-season hurricane hit land just north of the Costa Rican border near the town of San Juan de Nicaragua with winds of 110 mph.

The center said Otto’s winds later weakened to 100 mph as it moved inland near the border with Costa Rica.

The center called Otto dangerous in part because of the heavy rains and storm surge it carries, and forecasters said it was likely to cross over land and enter the Pacific.

Heavy rains from the storm have already been blamed for three deaths in Panama.

The center said Otto will continue to move across southern Nicaragua and northern Costa Rica and is expected to weaken to a tropical storm overnight.

The Nicaraguan government declared a state of emergency, and said evacuations would continue because of the continued risk of flooding.

In Bluefields, Nicaragua – the nearest major town on the Nicaraguan coast – residents rode out the hurricane.

“In our house, we have packed up some things in plastic bags and we went out to buy some provisions, just in case,” said Bluefields resident Jean Hodgson. “But if we had to leave our house, we don’t know where we could take refuge.” The area is low-lying and easily flooded.

Further south – and closer to where Otto hit – residents in the smaller town of Punta Gorda said they were planning to ride out the hurricane.

“There is fear, because these kinds of things are scary, but we are praying and doing what the authorities have told us to do,” said Punta Gorda resident Sara Pantin.

Nicaragua closed schools and was evacuating more than 10,000 people from communities in the storm’s path. Heavy rains were expected to affect the entire country, raising the possibility of flooding and landslides.

Officials in Costa Rica ordered the evacuation of 4,000 people from its Caribbean coast and called off school nationwide for the rest of the week. Heavy rain was already causing flooding in some areas and the president announced that public employees would not have to work Thursday or Friday.

By Thursday, 16 government shelters in Costa Rica held about 1,335 evacuees. People often take shelter with relatives during such evacuations.

The storm caused heavy rains in Panama as it moved roughly parallel to that nation’s northern coast, killing three people there.

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis said Otto could damage the country’s important coffee and agriculture sectors.

Nicaragua also feared damage for impoverished farmers and to coffee crops that are almost ready for harvest.

Otto was moving west at 12 mph (19 kph) and could re-emerge over the Pacific as a tropical storm before weakening to a tropical depression. </s> MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Hurricane Otto strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane as it churned toward the sparsely populated Caribbean coast border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica Thursday as an unusually strong late-season storm.

Heavy rains from the storm were blamed for three deaths in Panama. Otto was forecast to make landfall Thursday in Nicaragua, just north of the Costa Rican border.

In Bluefields, Nicaragua — the nearest town of any size on the coast — residents prepared to ride out the hurricane.

“In our house, we have packed up some things in plastic bags and we went out to buy some provisions, just in case,” said Bluefields resident Jean Hodgson. “But if we had to leave our house, we don’t know where we could take refuge.” The area is low-lying and easily flooded.

Nicaragua closed schools and was evacuating more than 10,000 people from communities in the storm’s path. Heavy rains were expected to affect the entire country, raising the possibility of flooding and landslides.

Officials in Costa Rica ordered the evacuation of 4,000 people from its Caribbean coast and called off school nationwide for the rest of the week. Heavy rain was already causing flooding in some areas and the president announced that public employees would not have to work Thursday or Friday.

No hurricane has made a direct landfall in Costa Rica since reliable record-keeping began in 1851.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm regained hurricane strength late Wednesday night after fluctuating between tropical storm and hurricane status earlier this week. By Thursday morning, Otto’s maximum sustained winds had increased to near 105 mph with additional strengthening possible before landfall.

The storm caused heavy rains in Panama as it moved roughly parallel to that nation’s northern coast, killing three people there.

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis said Otto could damage the country’s important coffee and agriculture sectors.

Nicaragua also feared damage for impoverished farmers and to coffee crops that are almost ready for harvest.

Otto “could seriously jeopardize food security for small-holder farmers who rely on maize, beans, cocoa, honey, coffee and livestock for their livelihoods,” said Jennifer Zapata, a regional director for Heifer International, a U.S.-based anti-poverty group.

Thursday morning, Otto was moving west near 8 mph and was centered about 70 miles north of Limon, Costa Rica, the hurricane center said.
Costa Rica declares a national emergency as Hurricane Otto prepares to make landfall after killing at least three people in Panama.