Flash floods cause chaos in the city

Chaos reigned yesterday as heavy afternoon showers caused massive flooding in downtown Port-of-Spain, leaving hundreds of commuters stranded. Motorists trying to leave the city on their way home from work ended up creating a  gridlock that snarled traffic for hours. The heavy showers caused the Dry River to overflow its banks resulting in major flooding along Independence Square, near the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, South Quay and the Besson Street Police Station area. Maxi taxi drivers heading back to City Gate remained trapped for hours as they waited for the waters to subside. Only a few dared to venture through the high waters. Some commuters, tired of waiting for the waters to subside, attempted to wade through the waters along South Quay to get to the City Gate terminal, but even then they were still forced to wait  to get any maxi leaving the city. 

Motorists who took the Eastern Main Road to enter PoS had to turn around in the Besson Street area, then drive as far east as the Maritime Roundabout in Barataria to take the Beetham Highway to PoS. This was time-consuming as the traffic jam started from the Barataria roundabout and continued onto Wrightson Road. The scene around the Queen’s Park Savannah was no different. A traffic jam stretched for miles. Some taxi drivers plying the St Ann’s route even refused to pick up the normal fare-paying passengers, opting for hired trips instead. A few even used a route through the waterlogged Savannah. Around 5 pm, hours after the heavy rainfall, tons of debris and mud remained in the city streets causing an unbearable stench. The Met office said a repeat of yesterday’s flooding is expected today. They denied however that the downpour and flooding was caused by the tropical wave or Tropical Depression #3 that caused fierce lightning and thunder early Monday morning. They insisted it was caused by “normal rainy season conditions.”