radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
As the Meteorological Office issued an adverse weather warning early yesterday morning, several parts of south and central Trinidad experienced power outages, flash flooding, and fallen trees caused by several hours of consistent rainfall and gusty winds.
In south Trinidad, the rains started before dawn and continued intermittently until mid-morning.
Along the M2 Ring Road, Videsh Laldeo and his 85-year-old father Dan Laldeo, were busy putting their appliances on higher ground. Laldeo also secured his chicken cages as water rose in his backyard.
“Right now we are praying that the rains would subside. It is really hard dealing with this,” Laldeo said, pointing to a lake of floods behind his home.
Laldeo said since a private businessman constructed a road near his home, the main drain was blocked and the water has no place to flow.
At Monkey Town in Barrackpore, flood waters were also seen in front of the home of the late chutney icon Sundar Popo. Lima Allick and her family were marooned inside their home for several hours. Allick said she and her mother Gracie Deoraj were sick and they could not get out because of the floods.
“The car got water in the engine. It cannot move and we had some water under the house,” she said.
The winds also knocked over a tree along Brash Boulevard, Palmiste. Councillor Roland Halls, who was on site, said residents from several blocks in Palmiste had to use alternative routes to get out.
Halls said even though the tree fell around 6.45 am, it was almost two hours later that it was finally removed because the Disaster Management Unit had no power saw.
“Dozens of people from the area were unable to pass along the Boulevard. There was traffic on both sides of the Boulevard. The Fire Services Prevention Unit arrived around 8 am. They returned with a power saw and managed to clear the debris. Workers from Penal/Debe Regional Corporation who were on standby loaded the tree on the truck,” Halls said.
In Central Trinidad, communities along the Brasso/ Caparo Valley Main Road also experienced floods.
Chairman of the Couva Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation Henry Awong said the Preysal River overflowed and there was flooding along the Solomon Hochoy Highway near Chase Village.
“Areas affected were Piparo, Caparo Valley Road, Mamoral Number 2, Fairview Park, Freeport, Southern Main Road, Chase Village, Gannessingh Street, Balmain, Lackan Drive, Deonarine Junction, Sharpe Road, Caparo, Lee Blanc Trace, Todds Road, Carr Trace, Caparo. In the Fairview Park areas, several homes were affected but it was not as bad as we anticipated,” Awong said.
Chairman of the Penal/ Debe Regional Corporation Dr Allen Sammy said the floods subsided quickly because of the low tide. He said parts of Lower Barrackpore and Monkey Town experienced flooding.
Councillor for Cedros Shankar Teelucksingh said Cedros experienced a power failure from 1.30 am and T&TEC crews were able to restore electricity after midday. There was minimal flooding.
Contacted for comment, head of the Office of Disaster Preparedness Capt Neville Wint said the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management did not have to co-ordinate any response to the adverse weather conditions.
However, he said teams under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development responded to various calls of flooding, fallen trees, landslides and fallen utility poles, in areas most affected by the adverse weather system.
By 1 pm yesterday, the T&T Metereological Office canceled the adverse weather warning. Meteorologist Gary Benjamin said the rainfall activity due to the ITCZ had dissipated. Benjamin urged citizens to monitor the updated forecasts and information from the Met Office as the ITCZ was expected to linger over the next few days.
