Flood waters ravish Tarouba

A heavy downpour around midday saw water rise as high as three feet, covering the low-lying parts of Tarouba Village near the entrance to the Solomon Hochoy Highway.

Some 50 residents located opposite San Fernando Technical Institute, in the low-lying parts of Tarouba Village, were confronted by an invasion of mud, slush, and water which gushed through their premises.

The water covered their yards and gardens after almost three hours of continuous heavy rainfall. The massive rush of water had apparently drained off from neighbouring areas of Pleasantville and Cocoyea Village. The deluge also spread across, on to the San Fernando By- pass, making it virtually impassable to vehicles heading in and out of Marabella.

The flooding caused a heavy traffic pile-up as motorists were unable to proceed in an out of Marabella through the By-Pass, as the water level climbed to four feet.

Tarouba resident Taramatie Deonarine was one of the residents who had to clean mud and slush from the verandah of her wooden house in Tarouba.

Deonarine, a doubles vendor, told Newsday that about three feet of water swirled around her house. The woman said she became scared when water began gushing outside her front door. "My two deep freezers, stove and groceries were destroyed," Deonarine said.

She said it was the worst case of flooding to hit her village in years. The vendor expressed the view that the floods were as a result of recent construction of NHA apartments adjacent to the Tarouba settlement. She said since the NHA construction began and on its completion earlier this year, there has been no proper drainage. "I have been living here for 30 years, and I have never experienced flooding like this before," said Deonarine.

Newsday was informed by the Fire Department in San Fernando that flooding was experienced by residents living in Macaulay, Princes Town, Golconda Village, and on High Street, San Fernando.

Water damaged items in 14 stores on lower High Street, when water from the back of the buildings seeped into the stores.