Tears flow for Tilly

Telitha Charles was a loving mother and grandmother, who always warned her children of the dangers of the Dibe River at the back of her house off Long Circular Road. But when the river flooded  last Sunday, the raging waters drew her like a magnet. She wanted a better view. Had she heeded her own advice she would not have stepped onto a concrete platform that collapsed with her into the river. She was swept away, her bruised, battered body floated two miles away down to Eckel Avenue, Maraval.

Yesterday there were many tears as family and friends gathered for Telitha’s funeral service at the Christian Union Church, St James. Telitha’s daughter-in-law, Sherry Ann, who delivered the eulogy, described “Tilly” as she was fondly called “an excellent mother, devoted wife and a wonderful mother-in-law.” According to Sherry Ann, Telitha loved her family dearly and was looking forward to living to a ripe old age with her six children and four grandchildren. She said that while everyone grieved over the death, they were grateful to have shared time with “an angel sent by God.” Rev David Chandler who officiated at the service urged relatives of Telitha to have faith, and not question God who knows best.

Telitha Charles was a fatality of the floods that have been causing widespread damage and destruction in Trinidad and Tobago. Heavily denuded hillsides have not been able to hold back the raging waters that have rushed down into rivers and drains narrowed by hillside developments preventing them from channelling the water off to the sea. On Thursday, Franklin Khan, Minister of Works described the problem as one caused by the “filthy rich”( the developers) and “the poor,” (the squatters) and promised that Government would take action in the matter.