Are there natural disasters like flooding, earthquakes, fire or hurricanes in Boquete, Panama?

Si, Boquete has flooding, small earthquakes (so far) and lots of fires in the dry season. Another big secret, FIRES, yes, lots of them, all set by the locals, part of a long tradition to clear the land.  Fortunately, homes and most other property does not burn, but the fires are considered normal and necessary by the locals.

 

This is another consideration for visitors and retirees.  Higher up, they get the misty rain, so no fires.  Lower elevations to...

Si, Boquete has flooding, small earthquakes (so far) and lots of fires in the dry season. Another big secret, FIRES, yes, lots of them, all set by the locals, part of a long tradition to clear the land.  Fortunately, homes and most other property does not burn, but the fires are considered normal and necessary by the locals.

 

This is another consideration for visitors and retirees.  Higher up, they get the misty rain, so no fires.  Lower elevations to the Pacific side you will encounter fires and smoke daily from February thru April, until the rains come.

 

So, look around and investigate before you make a decision to rent or buy. 

 

Frank Stegmeier, Rio Encantado, Caldera, Chiriqui

Panama lies outside the hurricane zone, gracias a Dios!
 

Panama lies outside the hurricane zone, gracias a Dios!
 

The good news is that Panama’s geographic location near the equator means that we’re out of the hurricane zone and we don’t get these kinds of storms.  Panama, like all equatorial tropical locations, experiences two seasons a year – a dry season and a wet season.  The dry season typically lasts from mid-December to mid-April and we can have little or no measurable rainfall during much of this time.   Toward the latter part of the dry season...

The good news is that Panama’s geographic location near the equator means that we’re out of the hurricane zone and we don’t get these kinds of storms.  Panama, like all equatorial tropical locations, experiences two seasons a year – a dry season and a wet season.  The dry season typically lasts from mid-December to mid-April and we can have little or no measurable rainfall during much of this time.   Toward the latter part of the dry season (March and April) the grasses on the large cattle ranches becomes extremely dry.  Many ranchers will intentionally set fire to their land to burn off this cover and to put nutrients back into the soil.  During this part of the year you see fires like this all throughout the country.  When ranch lands are adjacent to or nearby residential areas, this can be a problem.
 
Like fire sensitive areas back in the US, we try to keep our development as free of the dry grass as possible and create fire breaks around the community.  This is no easy task when you have several miles of perimeter areas to clear.  However, this maintenance can keep a fire from spreading.
 
The most prominent geological feature in Boquete is Volcan Baru, an inactive volcano that is also the highest point in Panama (at just over 11,300 feet).  Although inactive, the mountain will generate small tremblers from time-to-time and this can be disconcerting to people who haven’t experienced an earthquake in the past.
 
The area just off the Pacific coast and near the border of Costa Rica is also a seismically active area.  Two tectonic plates deep in the Pacific Ocean occasionally collide causing moderate earthquakes that can be felt in Boquete.  Since the plates are deep in the ocean and Boquete is another 38 kilometers (24 miles) inland, these quakes seldom do more than rattle people’s nerves.
 
The single biggest historical source of natural disasters in Boquete is caused by heavy rains and flooding.  Our wet season lasts from late-May through mid-December with heaviest rainfalls typically occurring in September, October and November.  We don’t experience storm systems like areas to the north of us.  Instead, our rain is caused by warm, moist tropical air rising against the slopes of Volcan Baru.  As the warm air rises, it cools and the cooler air can’t hold the same amount of moisture as the warm air so the result is thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.  The more moisture in the air, the heavier the downpour.   Our rain typically falls straight down and is not usually accompanied by strong winds (although occasionally a thunderstorm will generate gusty winds).  I have seen rainfall amounts of more than 10 inches an hour in very heavy thunderstorms.  These storms don’t usually last long but can produce flash floods and other water related problems.  These periods of extremely heavy rainfall have caused damage to downtown Boquete on several occasions due to flooding of the Caldera River (which runs through Boquete).  In 2011, the government of Panama authorized the construction of flood prevention measures along the Caldera River in attempt to keep the flooding to a minimum.
 
Although not technically a natural disaster, the one weather phenomenon that affects everyone in Boquete is the lightening produced by the thunderstorms during the wet season.  We experience some very powerful electrical storms and lightening strikes can carry high levels of voltage that find their way into the public electrical system and into homes.   To protect appliances and electronic equipment, surge protectors are a vital part of every household in the Boquete area.  Many people here install special surge protectors in their main electrical panels to prevent the spike of current that can ruin your expensive appliances and electronics.  It’s cheap insurance.

When talking about natural disasters in Panamá, we should also mention the natural protected areas, and rainforests.
 
The rainforests in Panamá are important due to their primary (or “old-growth”) and secondary (or “second-growth”) forests and the great biodiversity of the entire region, where mist and fog are part of the daily life, with deep jungle and rivers, in some areas, danger, but at the same time, great beauty of its fauna and flora.
...

When talking about natural disasters in Panamá, we should also mention the natural protected areas, and rainforests.
 
The rainforests in Panamá are important due to their primary (or “old-growth”) and secondary (or “second-growth”) forests and the great biodiversity of the entire region, where mist and fog are part of the daily life, with deep jungle and rivers, in some areas, danger, but at the same time, great beauty of its fauna and flora.
 
Declared "Patrimony of the Humanity" (UNESCO World Heritage Site), La Amistad International Park (in Spanish “Parque Internacional de la Paz”, also known as the “International Park for Peace” or “Friendship International Park") is located between Costa Rica and Panamá, and has approximately 400,000 hectares  (988,000 acres, over 1,500 square miles).
 
La Amistad International Park Is also known because it has one of the largest species of different animals, like jaguars, and more than 500 species of birds.  It is not accessible  by regular transportation, and only scientists or natives may know their way around.  Absolutely no attempt to go backpacking, or excursion without the proper guide or information should be made, under any circumstances.
 
I make reference to La Amistad International Park in connection with natural disasters, because all the area in the provinces of Bocas del Toro, Chiriqui and Veraguas, as well as in Darién, are very humid, rainy, and inside the chain of mountains, where weather is different from the rest of the country.  In these areas, you may experience once in a while, flooding due the rivers and high tides, some "shakings" that residents in other areas are not used to having,  and maybe some forest fires sometimes.
 
But talking in general, Panamá, this country is blessed by nature, with no snow, earthquakes, major forest fires or hurricanes, which is one reason why one of the eight wonders of the world was made here..... the "Panamá Canal".
 
Panamá has warm weather by nature, but in some areas, close by or in the mountains, like in Boquete, Altos del María, Campana or Cerro Azul, the weather is cool and nice.
In the dry season (December through April) you may experience the nicest breeze, and relax in your hammock all year round.
 
 
 
 

All in all, compared to any place I’ve ever lived, I would worry less about natural disasters here in Boquete. All in all, we all feel very safe here.

We do not experience hurricanes here in Boquete. Never in the history of Panama has there been a hurricane or a tsunami. Theoretically, we do have a dormant volcano just right up the road. The last time it went off was 550 years ago. If they can trace back the pattern in time, that volcano goes off every about 500 years so it is probably due. The government has all kinds of seismic equipment to monitor the volcano’s activity so I am pretty sure that we will have ample warning in...

We do not experience hurricanes here in Boquete. Never in the history of Panama has there been a hurricane or a tsunami. Theoretically, we do have a dormant volcano just right up the road. The last time it went off was 550 years ago. If they can trace back the pattern in time, that volcano goes off every about 500 years so it is probably due. The government has all kinds of seismic equipment to monitor the volcano’s activity so I am pretty sure that we will have ample warning in case that volcano erupts.
 
There has not been a flood in Boquete in the last three years but in the three years before that, there had been at least one big flood every year. The region has put in a lot of money to build up the sides of the riverbanks and individual property owners have put in a lot of flood control like run-off ditches on their own properties. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we would not have another big flood. It was kind of funny because when he had the first big flood, the residents here said, “Oh, this is the hundred year flood. It only comes every one hundred years.” Well, around the same month of the following year, we had another one! And when we had the third flood, they just quit justifying that it only comes every hundred years. Thankfully, we haven’t experienced another one in the last three years. The flood control equipment in the river has not even been tested yet because the water has not risen up to the height that they built it up to.
 
We have a big river that runs in the middle of Boquete called the Caldera River. Aside from that, we have tons of little rivers, too. We are in a bowl. Hills and mountains surround Boquete and it rains a lot so the water comes down into these drainage ditches and they can flood. Many people live high up the hill but people who live at the bottom of the hill might get flooded in their houses. People are aware of the places that can be flooded and are careful in buying houses in these areas or they set up run-offs in their properties. I have three run-offs on my driveway that lead back into the quebradas (drainage ditch) on the other side of my house.
 
We do experience earthquakes although, in the history of Panama, I do not think anybody has died in an earthquake. A lot houses have cracks on them. Most earthquakes originate off the coast of Costa Rica on the Pacific Ocean. We have not had any major earthquakes where buildings came down. There were some earthquakes where you will just wake up at night and you will hear the dishes rattling but they do not fall of the shelf so it is not a big deal.
 
We also have brush fires here in Panama but they are set off purposely. The Panamanian farmers burn their fields. They often times burn them in the dry season. Sometimes the fire gets away from them and it roars up the canyon and the bomberos (firemen) have to come and shoot water on the fire. Some fires start in the canyon because people farm everywhere. People who live in the canyons may be concerned about these fires but definitely, their houses are not going to burn because they were built from cement and the roof is usually tile and metal. Most of the buildings here in Panama are made of cement, except for the old buildings, so there is not much fire hazard. Most people do not build out of wood because of the termites.
 

In Boquete you have to watch the river because we are in a high area in Boquete dropping very quickly into the ocean, so there is a high possibility of flash micro floods and that could be a disaster.

 

A few weeks ago, a river in Cerro Punta, which is on the other side of the volcano from Boquete, overflowed and flooded, and I think around six people died. They were mostly locals who had shacks on the river. A bus, along with a couple of people on it, also got washed...

In Boquete you have to watch the river because we are in a high area in Boquete dropping very quickly into the ocean, so there is a high possibility of flash micro floods and that could be a disaster.

 

A few weeks ago, a river in Cerro Punta, which is on the other side of the volcano from Boquete, overflowed and flooded, and I think around six people died. They were mostly locals who had shacks on the river. A bus, along with a couple of people on it, also got washed away. So I would say, the river is something to be watched.

 

We do experience earthquakes here in Boquete, but they are very small ones. We were told that Panama is blessed with slippery plates. It is unlike California, Washington, British Colombia, and many other places that have earthquakes that are still building, and one day are going to get lose, and it will be disastrous in one way, shape, or form to parts of California. In Panama, the movements of the plates happen to be small, and often because of some geological feature where one plate moves and slips below or above the other easily. We get very minor earthquakes here in Panama, which are usually magnitude 2 to 4 on the Richter scale and that is virtually nothing.

 

In our house here in Boquete, my wife and I experienced a magnitude 6 earthquake.  My condominiums, the house we live in and the house we are building now for ourselves, are all designed to withstand far higher seismic shocks than what is the norm in the US. I would worry more living in Los Angeles than living here in Boquete, because most of the buildings here are earthquake-proof. You would not see a building collapse due to an earthquake, unless it is a very old one. Earthquakes are not really an issue in Boquete because Boquete is built for it, or the buildings here are over-built, so that the minor tremors that we get, create no problems at all.

 

The only volcano here erupted around 2,000 years ago and we were told that it is a very happy volcano, unlike Mount St. Helens and Mount Baker.

 

Fire is not a problem here in Boquete, either. Some minor locations had fire problems where grass had been left burning, which is actually illegal here in Panama. In most cases, places that are left tend to get burned regularly by people who do not want a grass field to grow and be a problem. You won't see a brush fire, such as the ones you see in California or Australia, where almost a whole community has been wiped out by the fire.

 

We do not have hurricanes in Panama because hurricanes do not exist in places located 15 degrees north or south of the equator. Hurricanes start above the 15-degree mark of the equator. We sometimes get the effect of bad weather in other places, though.

 

When we talk to people, they say that some of the reasons they decided to move down to Panama is because of the danger that may be brought by hurricanes to their properties in other places, particularly in places like Florida and other places along the coastline. And people who live inland in the US Mid-West worry about tornadoes, which are much more powerful than hurricanes. Tornadoes course through the center of a large land mass due to the differentials of temperatures and winds that built up across prairies and other places, which Panama does not have because it is too narrow.

We had a 20 or 30 year flood when I first came here. We had two major floods in recent years. The first one affected the Rio Caldera, which is the main river going through Boquete. It knocked out and completely destroyed one bridge and everybody was very concerned about the only other major bridge, but it was OK.  Meanwhile, the river near where we live took on a different route and began to flow down the road, but it subsided.

 

These events...

We had a 20 or 30 year flood when I first came here. We had two major floods in recent years. The first one affected the Rio Caldera, which is the main river going through Boquete. It knocked out and completely destroyed one bridge and everybody was very concerned about the only other major bridge, but it was OK.  Meanwhile, the river near where we live took on a different route and began to flow down the road, but it subsided.

 

These events were something that caused the community to work together because it was a genuine disaster. I firmly believe that part of the reason that the nine humanitarian organizations here work so closely together today is that we have learned to in the face of that disaster. Everybody did what they knew how to do best. For example, at that time, our focus was feeding about 11,000 kids a day in school, so we had a pretty good supply of food. We were able to deliver 1,000 pounds of food to the high school where they were sheltering several hundred people who had been stranded. Then we went up to some of the high fincas (ranches) where we had good relationships with the ranchers and we brought down another thousand pounds of vegetables and delivered them.  We went down to town to Romero’s (a local grocery store) and bought something for ourselves and for the people who got stranded who needed help. It was pretty terrific.

 

When it was all done, it was pretty amazing. The mayor called another meeting and told us that he was happy to say that we were back in business and that if we had more supplies, they were not needed any more in Boquete. He recommended that we ship them to Bocas Del Toro because the people there were in desperate shape. We were lucky to have a bit of a surplus because one of the political candidates had given a 40-foot container of humanitarian aide to the Lion’s Club and the Lion’s Club asked us to help distribute it, so we had a lot of stock. The concern was how to get the supplies down to Bocas Del Toro because we didn’t want to have any losses on the way.

 

I then got a call from a friend of mine who also told me that there are some desperate people in Bocas Del Toro who need help. I told her of course I could help, but our concern was how to get the goods there safely and in trusted hands. She said, “That is why I am calling; I have a means of accomplishing that.” I asked her how she was going to do it and she said, “It's pretty simple. A gentleman I know from Bocas Del Toro died in Panama City and his coffin is being transported by truck.  We want to meet you up in David, load up the supplies, and bring it down to Bocas Del Toro in the same truck as the coffin. Nobody is going to get near a truck with a dead body.”

 

The following year, we had a micro flood that knocked out our bridge, and as far as flooding was concerned, that was it. We never had anything like that since. It wasn’t a big deal to build our bridge back up. I had a backhoe come in and we moved some big rocks, and now we are in great shape. I am not concerned about any flooding in the future. Our house is far away from the stream, but you cannot predict when something might happen. A 20-year flood can happen in 20 years or it can happen next year.

 

The people who are considering moving to Boquete should not be worried about flooding. Of course I wouldn’t build my house right next to a creek that could overflow and there are other places that have flooding issues like Volcan and Cerro Punta.  The extent to which you are affected by flooding is just a question of being prepared for it and building on the right spot.

 

We do have minor earthquakes in Boquete from time to time. We had a earthquake about six months ago. My wife, Alicia, who had gone through two big quakes in Los Angeles, was not happy, but even if it was shake, rattle, and roll, it was over in about 30 to 45 seconds. We did not have any damage at all. We had one small crack next to a big girder, which would be pretty understandable given the shake that we got. We have insurance for earthquakes, but you don’t have to prepare for any big quakes like you would if you were in Los Angeles, where you tie things down. We build for it. The buildings here are sturdy because the people know that quakes happen here.

 

We don’t get brush fires in Boquete, and especially not where we live. By and large, most of the houses in Boquete have no wood in them. The house where I am living right now and the house where we used to live almost have no wood in them. The only wood that you will see there are the doors and cabinets. No building with wood is very common in Panama because it is cost effective and climate effective. Either you build with cinder blocks and then plaster it with cement, or they use amados, which is basically a plastic foam with wire running through it. It is very quick to put up because it is in big sheets, and they have a machine where they spray the concrete on that. Generally, I do not know anybody who has had any problem with fires.

 

We had an ice cream shortage for a few months, which was a pretty big disaster. What happened was that the largest producer of ice cream in all of Panama shut down for two and a half months to retool. People were going nuts!

We haven’t had any natural disasters here in Boquete. We do have occasional tremors but for the most part, hurricanes do not affect Panama at all. Flooding isn’t an issue because we are in the mountains so when it rains, it all flows downhill. Flooding could only happen if you live close to a river and when we get enough rain, flashfloods could happen. But as far as the whole town going under water, I don’t see that happening.
 
The tremors that we experience...

We haven’t had any natural disasters here in Boquete. We do have occasional tremors but for the most part, hurricanes do not affect Panama at all. Flooding isn’t an issue because we are in the mountains so when it rains, it all flows downhill. Flooding could only happen if you live close to a river and when we get enough rain, flashfloods could happen. But as far as the whole town going under water, I don’t see that happening.
 
The tremors that we experience here were nothing strong. The last one that we had was 4.3 on the Richter Scale and that seems to be the average. So as long as you can deal with a little shake every once in a while, then that’s the worst of it.
 
Fire is not a problem in Boquete, either. There is so much green around even in the dry season, when we still get enough moisture to keep everything green. We don’t have any fire issues here in Boquete. There are other provinces that could get drier in the summer time where there could be a fire issue.

 

(Green pastures and hardwood trees along the river, Rio Papayala in Chiriqui Province near Boquete, Panama, pictured.)

Greetings expats community. 

Are there natural disasters like flooding, earthquakes, fire or hurricanes in Boquete, Panama?

The answer to that question is yes, we do have some natural disasters previously mentioned so I will talk about it from my experience.

Flooding

In the 12 years that I have been living in Boquete I can recall two times when the Caldera river flooded. The first time was in 2008 and it was pretty amazing.  Fortunately,...

Greetings expats community. 

Are there natural disasters like flooding, earthquakes, fire or hurricanes in Boquete, Panama?

The answer to that question is yes, we do have some natural disasters previously mentioned so I will talk about it from my experience.

Flooding

In the 12 years that I have been living in Boquete I can recall two times when the Caldera river flooded. The first time was in 2008 and it was pretty amazing.  Fortunately, nothing major happened, just material damages like a small bridge collapsed. Many fields where flooded but nobody was living there and there weren't any crops on site. After that massive flood the municipality decided to make the river wider and reinforce each side of the river with a rock wall all the way to the exit of the town. Before that the previous flood was 60 years ago. 

The next year in 2009  the river grew again but because it was wider and we were prepared no bridges fell or any people were harmed so it was just a one time thing. This is 2018 and global warming is at full power so I can not assure you that nothing will ever happen again but you just need to keep your distance from the un-protected part of the river and you will be fine.

Earthquakes

We don't have earthquakes, but we do have some small tremblers, which are more common. They are regular in this part of the world because this is a seismic region all the way from Costa Rica to Colombia. Here in Chiriquí is the place in Panama with more seismic activity, which could happen once every two years and it is not like as dangerous as in other places like San Francisco or Tokyo. The average earthquake is from 4 to 6 in the Richter scale so it is not like the earth is going to swallow us. 

By law all the buildings in Panama  have anti-earthquake foundations for your own safety so your house is not going to fall apart by any means.