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Associated Press

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 neighbouring 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.
Authorities in Nicaragua said the hurricane had damaged houses, but so far there were no reports of casualties. Earlier, heavy rains from the storm were blamed for three deaths in Panama.

Otto battered Nicaragua’s Corn Islands with 3.5-meter (10-foot) waves and damaged houses, but residents were all safe, said the archipelago’s mayor, Cleveland Rolando Webster.
The US National Hurricane Center said that by Friday morning, the storm was centred about 245 miles (395 kilometres) south-southeast of El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador, and had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph). It was moving toward the west at 16 mph (26 kph). It was projected to keep moving westward away from Central America, further into Pacific.
The Nicaraguan government earlier declared a state of emergency, but later reported there were no deaths directly related to the hurricane. About 400 homes in Nicaragua were damaged or destroyed.
Solis said Otto could damage the country’s important coffee and agriculture sectors. Nicaragua also feared damage to coffee crops that are almost ready for harvest.


Tropical storm Otto kills nine in Costa Rica; barrels into Pacific Ocean

epa05647582 A dog looks on a flooded area in the city of Upala, San Carlos, Costa Rica, 25 November 2016. According to the Commission of Judicial Investigation at least four people have died in the country due to the hurricane Otto, which caused structural damage as it passed over the area and later weakened to a Tropical storm. EPA/JEFFREY ARGUEDAS

epa05647221 A man walks through a submerged bridge by a river after hurricane Otto hit Cardenas, a town of the department of Rivas, Nicaragua, 25 November 2016. Hurricane Otto hit the Nicaraguan municipality of Cardenas, causing power outage, damage to roads and roofs, falling trees and flooding rivers. EPA/JORGE TORRES

A woman walks in front of houses destroyed by a landslide after Hurricane Otto hit in Guayabo de Bagaces, Costa Rica. Photo: Reuters

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