Massive flooding in Sangre Grande

RISING  water levels interrupted the slumber of hundreds of people in Sangre Grande early Wednesday morning, after a tropical wave brought intense rainfall for almost ten hours.

An alarm was raised around 5am as residents in low-lying areas along Picton Road, Railway Road, Ramdass Street, Adventist Street, Good Hope Street, Coalmine and Fishing Pond woke up to flooded streets and homes.

Some residents had to race for higher ground while trying to save whatever appliances and valuables they could.

Residents of Picton Road were heard appealing to Toco/Sangre Grande MP Roger Monroe to block the road, as vehicles driving through the flood were causing more damage by pushing the water further into their homes.

In an interview with Newsday around 10 am, Monroe said the water was continuing to rise.
"I was reliably informed that water is coming from the Tamana region," he said.

Monroe said high tides meant the water was unable to flow into the sea.

He said one person had contacted him to ask for rescue.
"That person was removed and in a safe place right now, but I would want to believe there are others."

Monroe urged any constituent who is aware of anyone "who is disabled, or in any situation, to share the information with us." He said the Disaster Management Unit of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation, fire services and police are on the ground.

He acknowledged that flooding in Grande continues to get worse and more frequent, and said he has a meeting scheduled with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to discuss how the problem could be addressed.

Sangre Grande North-West councillor Nassar Hosein complained that not enough dredging of rivers is being done, and the Ministry of Works needs to do a better job to alleviate flooding.
"This has been a recurring thing for quite some years. I have been pleading with the Ministry of Works since I came into office in 2020, to dredge the rivers during the dry season...

"Why have we abandoned dredging the rivers? Some dredging is done by bridges, where the general public could see, but if you are doing dredging, the entire watercourse supposed to be dredged. If you dredge a piece, ent there will be blockage lower down the road?"

He said the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation does not have enough vehicles to transport sandbags and other relief items.