Maraval left wet and muddy

According to residents, after a full day of rain, at about 3.30 pm on Thursday, communities began to be inundated with floods along sections of the Saddle Road. Water rose as high as three feet in some places, making use of the road almost impossible at these points.

Commuters were left stranded and traffic was backed up along both lanes of the road. However, residents said waters began to recede within an hour and clean-up operations began.

Several residents reported significant property damage. Rodney Sakicharan, who represented Welcome Inn Mini Mart, told Newsday that several goods were washed away and he expected thousands of dollars in losses.

He added that a pet parrot, affectionately called “Po Po”, which had been kept in the basement of the building, drowned when the flood waters rose.

However, all residents agreed that the second flood, which occurred at 7.30 pm on Thursday was the worse of the two.

“It came suddenly and nobody was really expecting it. We had some more rain, but nothing that bad, but next thing you know the river burst its bank again. And we had to go through the same hell again. I think that is what hurt most too for people, after getting over the first flood and now starting to clean up, we had to go through it again,” Andre Prescod said.

Ronald Roodal, who lives on the top floor of a two-storey house on Saddle Road said the second flood caused the perimeter wall of his home to fall. He pointed to several pieces of debris on his property and that of his neighbour, and told Newsday that the rest of the wall had been washed away in the flood.

Mark De Freitas, the Chief of Operations at Kappa Drugs, told Newsday that Thursday’s floods were the worst he has seen. Workers could be seen, broom in hand, working feverishly to clear mud from the building.

Most residents blamed the flooding on recent housing developments in the area. They said the developers of these projects have not built proper drainage systems, and as a result excess water flowed into the river.

Newsday contacted WASA and was told that the lack of water along the Saddle Road and parts of Maraval, was caused by damage sustained at the Maraval Waterworks Plant. All operations of the facility had to be stopped.

The Authority said emergency works were underway, and they anticipated that the operations of the facility would be partially restored sometime today. They said the production of the plant was affected by a mechanical problem at Moka Well #4, which should be restored by December 22.