“The stench—it real stink!”
This might seem like the least of Bejucal farmer Nickie Chan’s problems after losing everything in her house plus her crops to recent floods, but the stench left by the contaminated water is still a big bugbear.
Chan, 35, told the T&T Guardian in an interview: “Everything in my house was destroyed by four feet high water—I’m in total deficit. After you take a shower, you still feel dirty because this smell clings to you.”
Tired, worried and anxious, but determined, Chan was heartened a bit by a visit from the Social Development Ministry on Tuesday regarding an assistance grant.
“They didn’t fuss, they just asked for ID and a list of what I lost,” she said.
“The $10,000 grant can’t cover all my losses which—with lost crops and a spoiled vehicle—is about $400,000. But it’s still help.”
Chan is a single mother of a seven- year-old and breadwinner to the family including her 62-year-old father who lives with her. Her two acres of crops—from lettuce to parsley—were flooded.
When floods hit last weekend, her ground level Ramlal Trace home was almost floating,
“Water came up to my chest—four feet and more. In the two minutes it took to come in, I couldn’t salvage anything. It became a big rush with rough current.
“Stove, fridge, appliances, all our clothes were destroyed. We just got in the tray of the pick-up and prayed the water wouldn’t reach that high,”
“My son now has no clothes. I’m wearing my sister’s own. She’s very short, the water was up to her neck. We went by family in Edinburgh 500.
“I came home to sort things out, but the smell, it’s so unsanitary with all the silt and slush still, I can’t bring my son here,”
Area MP Ganga Singh said flood-affected areas had the same problem.
“Because there’s ‘organic’ matter—to put it delicately—in the water, heavily contaminated,” he said.
Chan had hailed out some passing corporation workers to help her move items out of the house.
With possessions sitting in slush, Chan said: “The whole place smells like garbage. Officials told us to leave everything in place to assess the extent of damage, but it’s maggots everywhere. Food spoiled, all kinds of things brought down by the water coming in. I found a large red coral snake wrapped around one of my son’s toys,”
Chan is grateful for friends who have pooled to help her.
“I feel lucky for that. But I still have to start from scratch. It will take several months before I can see my way—not everybody has savings. The water was so heavy, it uprooted the pipes where I plant (crops). I can’t pump water there. I dont have money to rebuild, but I must change the roof.”
At the height of floods, her uncle Ramdeo Mahadeo on Ramkissoon Trace said he had caimans all around his property.
“They were swimming all in the garage—I’m missing some kittens now, but the dog is safe.”
He said he felt the grant would not go far.
”But right now, at least something better than nothing. We tried to take care of our own via our mandir and other groups. Our MP was there right through, but people also wanted to see the people in power. But main concern now: I really hope they dredge the Caroni River. That now must be a regular priority.”