RAD­HI­CA DE SIL­VA
rad­hi­ca.sookraj@guardian.co.tt

Back­hoes and ex­ca­va­tors re­mained on stand­by on the banks of the South Oropouche Riv­er, as well as the New Cut Chan­nel, as wa­ter lev­els re­ced­ed with­out any breach­es.

Pres­i­dent of the South Oropouche River­ine Flood Ac­tion Group, Ed­ward Mood­ie, said the pumps at Tul­sa Trace func­tioned ef­fi­cient­ly to drain the South Oropouche Drainage Basin. Sev­en ma­jor rivers flow through this re­gion that ac­com­mo­dates wa­ter­flow as far as Moru­ga, which emp­ties in­to the Gulf of Paria.

"We have been out all day mon­i­tor­ing the riv­er lev­els. We have not reached full ca­pac­i­ty," he said.

Wood­land res­i­dents had tak­en pre-emp­tive ac­tion by mov­ing house­hold pos­ses­sions to high­er ground since the rains start­ed on Wednes­day night.

The rains fell for sev­er­al hours and sub­sided by noon. The coun­try had been on an Or­ange Lev­el River­ine Alert on Thurs­day, which prompt­ed the Ed­u­ca­tion Min­istry to close schools. 

Guardian Me­dia will up­date this sto­ry as more in­for­ma­tion comes to hand.