Ivan’s tail creates panic in Trinidad

Although Trinidad and Tobago was on Tuesday evening taken off Hurricane Ivan’s danger list by the Meteorological Services, his tail created panic among many residents in the northwest and east from Tuesday night into yesterday morning. There were several reports of high winds and thunderstorms which knocked out the power supply in many areas and set the tone for some heavy flooding in flood prone areas. By eight o’clock last evening, Ivan had created havoc in other islands along the Caribbean chain, having left a trail of destruction in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, St Lucia, Barbados, Tobago, and some parts of Trinidad. Chief meteorologist at Piarco Met Services, Emmanuel Moolchan, yesterday told Newsday the strong winds and thundershowers experienced in the early hours of yesterday morning were associated with a feeder band from Ivan.

Its effects were felt in several parts of Trinidad resulting in a loss of power. In Diego Martin, residents reported heavy winds howling through the valley, with trees being whipped around and galvanised sheets being ripped off. TTEC reported 80 trouble calls on Tuesday evening alone. There were reports of flooding in the East, which caused many people, including children, to stay from work and school. Many felt they were tricked by the Met Services, especially since by that time all hurricane and storm warnings had been lifted. That feeder band also resulted in floods in Central, but there were no reports of major damage. Moolchan said the weather conditions were expected to improve considerably since yesterday evening. He noted that the greyness which prevailed throughout most of the day, was as a result of stratified clouds which had all been rained out.

The conditions delayed the visit to Tobago by Prime Minister Patrick Manning. After the the tropical storm warning was discontinued on Tuesday evening, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) announced the implementation of a partial stand-down of its emergency operations. In an advisory, it said a task-force meeting at 6.30 pm on Tuesday decided that emergency operations would be maintained in Tobago and at NEMA’s headquarters in Orange Grove. All other emergency operations in Trinidad were discontinued. NEMA said its decision meant that Trinidad would return to “normalcy” while damage, needs assessment and mop-up operations were taking place in Tobago.