Residents of Woodbrook and the environs say they will put most of their focus into reducing the noise levels of music trucks for Carnival next year.
According to resident Ashelle Waddell, the bass and volume of the speakers on the music trucks this year were “ridiculous” and many residents were affected.
“I’ve never heard it that bad...everything in the house was vibrating. We have a resident whose foundation shifted, and her 100-pound gas tank moved, somebody else’s aquarium also shifted, and somebody’s floor boards came up,” Waddell claimed.
Another resident, Charmaine Persad, added, “The bass was very loud...the glass really shook like it wanted to shatter.”
But infrastructural damage was not the worst the residents faced this Carnival weekend.
Waddell said there were two medical emergencies as well.
“An older lady fell down in her house. Her relatives did not hear her. Luckily, she had her cellphone and was able to call her niece, who called a friend to come over to her house because no one could hear her screaming for help... Another neighbour had a heart condition. They live on the avenue. A sign that was up saying noise sensitive area was pointed out to the deejay on the truck, who pretended he didn’t know English and totally ignored them. The bass triggered off a medical episode,” she claimed.
Waddell said the affected man was still hospitalised.
Other residents, who asked to remain anonymous, said their animals were also affected.
“Pets were traumatised and cowering and frantic looking for safe spaces but there wasn’t any, as the bass and volume reverberated as far as six homes away from the Avenue,” they said.
The residents collaborated with the National Carnival Committee (NCC) to install noise-sensitive signs at various locations but said they were ignored.
Guardian Media contacted the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) on the residents claims that at times, the levels were 100 decibels.
Both the EMA and the NCC acknowledged receipt of Guardian Media’s request but did not respond by late yesterday.
Many houses along Warren Street had spikes on their walls. Guardian Media was told that was to protect their property from revellers who in the past attempted to climb over into their yards.
“It’s not for bandits, it’s for masquerades, they kind of feel they own your property more than you do,” one resident said.
However, they commended CEPEP for its clean-up work.
In a social media post, CEPEP said it collected 25,000 bags of waste from Carnival Saturday to Carnival Monday and expected to collect 10,000 more bags of waste by the end of Carnival Tuesday.
