Heavy rains leave commuters stranded in the city

Heavy showers yesterday afternoon left hundreds of residents of North and East Trinidad marooned. However, despite the inclement weather, Chief Meteorologist at the Meteorological Office, Emmanuel Moolchan said they recorded only 23 mm of rainfall at Piarco, from just after midday to approximately 5.30 pm. He suspected some areas would have recorded as much as 40 - 50 mm of rainfall. Admitting that torrential showers like yesterday’s would have resulted in street and flash flooding, Moolchan said water courses and drains would not have been able to hold the volume of water and flooding would occur. Up to around 7.15 pm, Moolchan said the Met Office had not received any reports of flooding.

It is reported that a number of bridges were washed away, and residents particularly hard hit included persons from Tacarigua, Valsayn, San Juan, St Joseph, Wallerfield and Five Rivers. Reports reaching our newsroom revealed there were several landslides along the North Coast Road, and that a number of roads had been blocked as a result. Fire Appliances from the Wrightson Road and Santa Cruz  Stations were said to have responded to calls for assistance from stranded motorists. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) also co-ordinated rescue efforts in the area. Checks with various police stations along the East-West Corridor revealed that a huge traffic pile-up occurred because of non-functioning traffic lights at the intersection of the Churchill Roosevelt and Uriah Butler Highways. This also affected commuters travelling into Central and South Trinidad.

ASP Oswyn Allard, as well as a number of police officers from various police stations, were co-ordinating efforts in the area to combat the congestion. An officer at the Wrightson Road Fire Station confirmed reports that there were some incidents of flooding along the East-West Corridor in the areas of Curepe, St Augustine and Tunapuna. However, he noted that while they had sent appliances out to these areas, he had nothing concrete to report at the time. At the Tunapuna Fire Station, one officer revealed that during the course of the day, there had been reports of flooding along the Eastern Main Road in Tunapuna, in the vicinity of Food Master’s Supermarket, as well as in the area of Emerald Plaza, St Augustine. He did, however, state that the flood waters had subsided by afternoon. There were no reports at either the San Juan or Arima Fire Stations. The scene at the transportation hub, City Gate, was one of chaos and confusion as travellers were stranded when maxis refused to pick up weary travellers. The maxis which picked up persons declared they would be going only as far as San Juan.