By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Emergency commission contractors were at work in Palmares Monday clearing away debris from a river and ditches so that any future rainfall will not cause the kind of damage inflicted last week.

The Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias said that similar work was going on in San Ramón and in Desamparados.

The work in Palmares involved the Río Azul and the Quebrada Calabaza. Saturday geologists with the commission listed 16 landslide areas in Palmares. Although the commission said these are not high risk areas, it suggested that local officials keep an eye on them.

Fortunately for the battered communities, a dry air mass over the Caribbean has caused sunny weather since Friday.

The commission also was working to clear the Río Cañas that flows through Los Guidos and San Juan de Dios de Desamparados. In Guanacaste, the Río Sequito flooded some 20 homes Thursday. That was the same day that in Palmares some 150 homes were flooded out.

Residents are now cleaning the mud and trying to repair the patios that was swept away by the water. In Palmares some seven bridges were destroyed.