Heavy rains cause floods in South Trinidad

HEAVY thundershowers between Divali night and early yesterday morning caused rivers in South Trinidad to burst their banks and inundate low lying, rural villages and towns with raging flood waters. Newsday received reports of waist-high water in parts of Debe and Barrackpore. The resulting floods left several families marooned in their homes and caused several schools to remain closed. Thousands of dollars worth of property and crops were reported damaged and lost. However, there were no reports of casualties and/or injuries from yesterday’s floods, whereas in Tobago, one man was reportedly killed as a result of the inclement weather.

The flooding rendered dozens of roads impassable. As early as 4 am, units from the Mon Repos and Princes Town Fire Stations had to be dispatched to aid flood-stricken residents in Barrackpore, one of the hardest hit areas followed by La Romaine, Green Acres, Cross Crossing, Siparia, Debe, Penal, Oropouche, Fyzabad, Point Fortin, Cedros and Woodland. Farmers reported losses to their crops and some livestock. Meteorologist Shakeer Baig told Newsday heavy showers and thundershowers were experienced over the last 12 to 18 hours over Trinidad and Tobago. “Some of the heavier and more severe thundershowers occurred over South Trinidad and Tobago, with total rainfall exceeding 420 mm.

“Within the last 24 hours, Barrackpore experienced 127 mm of rainfall, Siparia 92 mm, Princes Town 82 mm and Tobago 119, as opposed to rainfall measured in Piarco within the last 12 hours, which stood at 6.6 mm,” Baig said. He said the weather was caused by the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which is a normal weather phenomenon in this part of the Caribbean. Flood victim Sunil Deosaran, a resident of New Colonial Trace in Barrackpore, said he was awakened by splashing sounds coming from downstairs his house. “When we checked, the house was under water. There was damage to mattresses, appliances, washing machines, carpet, rugs, even boxes with books and curtains. Right now we have about 20 garbage bags of stuff we have to throw away,” the distressed man said. Deosaran said he also found scorpions and snakes in his yard.

He put his damage at $20,000. Another resident, Jemma Seeloch, said her furniture and appliances floated outside her house and were hooked on the fence. “If the fence was not there they would have washed away,” she said. Newsday understands several business places in Debe, Cross Crossing and Barrackpore were also under water. Allen Sammy, chairman of the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation, said he toured the areas early yesterday and immediately dispatched backhoes to assist in emergency work such as clearing drains and roads. Sammy appealed to Minister of Agriculture Jarrette Narine to immediately assess damage to crop and livestock caused by the floods. Fyzabad MP Chandresh Sharma, who visited flood victims in his constituency, said he made several attempts to contact Minister of Works and Transport Franklin Khan and Minister of Local Government, Rennie Dumas, for assistance.