Met: More rain to come

Yesterday, flooding occurred in parts of Diego Martin, City Gate in downtown Port-of-Spain and parts of St James making it impossible for commuters to carry out their daily routines.

The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service yesterday issued a bulletin advising citizens to be cautious as inclement weather will continue for the next 12-18 hours.

“Trinidad and Tobago will continue to experience cloudy to overcast conditions with showers and thundershowers,” the Met office said. “This activity is related to the presence of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).” The bulletin stated that Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) Models forecast that the intensity of the rainfall activity will fluctuate and continue. “The activity would be widespread with heavy showers in localised areas that can yield rainfall between 25 to 30 mm or even greater in some locations.” Meanwhile, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) is also advising citizens to be vigilant of continuing adverse weather conditions and the risk of riverine flooding.

“Trinidad and Tobago is currently experiencing overcast conditions with rainfall activity and thundershowers due to the presence of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). This inclement weather is expected to continue intermittently for at least the next 18 to 24 hours.

In addition, the Water Resources Agency (WRA) has indicated that water levels in the nation’s rivers are at this time contained but rising.” The ODPM noted that citizens in low-lying areas, in particular the Caroni River Basin, are advised to exercise extreme vigilance and caution.

The release also stated that taking into consideration the forecast rainfall and the occurrence of the high tide at 1.36 pm this afternoon (yesterday), there is an increased possibility that these rivers may reach their thresholds and overtop their banks.

The ODPM, as the lead coordinator of emergency management, says it continues to work closely with all key stakeholders including the Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) and the Municipal Corporations’ Disaster Management Units (DMUs).

“There have been preliminary reports of flooding emerging in areas near rivers in the Sangre Grande and Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional Corporations.”