Three members of the protective services were among five residents of Greenvale Park, La Horquetta, who were honoured at yesterday’s National Awards Ceremony for risking their own lives to rescue their neighbours during catastrophic flooding in their community, last year.
Police officer Thaddeus Caraballo, fire officer Akil Melville, and coast guardsman Jeremy Lewis were all presented with the Hummingbird Medal (Bronze) for their gallantry, during the ceremony at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA). Their neighbours facilities manager Augustus Castle and economic development officer Kwasi Robinson were also bestowed with the award.
In an interview at his townhouse, which was completely gutted during the flooding, Caraballo said he felt honoured at receiving the award.
“I feel a sense of accomplishment for all that I have been through in life and all the good works that have been done before,” he said.
He explained that he was on patrol in Carapo when he received a call from President’s House about the award.
“I was shocked. I normally talk plenty but for a while I was silent,” he said.
Caraballo went on to describe the’ heroics which earned them the award.
He said on October 19 last year, he and his neighbours were preparing their yards during heavy rainfall when a wave of floodwater swept through the community.
“The water came in like a tsunami. It was difficult for anybody to react,” Caraballo said.
After ensuring that his wife, son and other relatives including his mother, a cancer patient, and his three-day-old great-niece were safe on the second storey of his home, Caraballo and his neighbours rushed to the assistance of neighbours living in lower-lying portions of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) development.
“I heard people screaming and begging for help. We immediately formed a team with persons who left their house and everything,” Caraballo said.
Caraballo, Melville, Lewis and other volunteers quickly joined garden hoses together to form a make-shift rope. While those who were not strong swimmers stayed with one end of the hose on higher ground, the trio took the other end and began swimming house to house to rescue their marooned neighbours.
“There was a raging current and a lot of caimans. I did not see any snakes but most likely they were in the water too,” he said.
They also had to deal with some neighbours, who were reluctant to trust in their ability to take them to safety.
Caraballo said he spent 10 minutes convincing a young couple to allow them to transport their newborn baby in a plastic barrel before they grudgingly agreed as the floodwaters continued to rise.
He claimed the only time they lost some hope was when a family, trapped in the roof of their home, pleaded with them to rescue their elderly relative, a double amputee.
“That was the only person that I feel really bad for because I didn’t think there was any way possible for us to get to her,” an emotional Caraballo said.
He said that they were relieved after learning the entire family was rescued by someone with a boat several hours later.
Caraballo and his team said a quick prayer before moving on to assist other neighbours. They worked until 4 am the next day.
At one point during the night, Caraballo almost drowned while rescuing two men as they pushed him underwater while hanging on to him like a human raft.
“I had to punch both men to try to knock some sense into them and knock out the panic,” he said.
He managed to save one of the men before Lewis jumped in to rescue the other.
Caraballo admitted that his training as a police officer helped but said he also had to draw on some experiences from childhood to survive.
“From since I was a boy growing up in Talparo, I would pray for rain to fall so the river would flood and we would be able to swim in it,” he said.
He noted that since their life-changing experience, he and the members of the rescue team have invested in supplies, including lengths of rope, in the event that they are called upon to repeat the feat.
While he said measures implemented by government agencies helped prevent flooding in the community during the recent passage of Tropical Storm Karen, but he still had to pacify neighbours who repeatedly go into a state of panic during periods of prolonged rainfall.
“We tell them that there are persons here who are ready to do it all over again. No lives will be lost in here. God is the boss,” Caraballo said.
He said he was proud to see other citizens helping those in need during flooding in other parts of the country last weekend.
“It should not take a flood for us to behave like this. It should be so throughout the year,” Caraballo said.
