Family of 5 rescued

When Donna Boodhoo received an urgent call from her brother Ryan to visit him and his family earlier yesterday, little did she know she was their last hope to escape their flooded home.

This was the situation for one Las Lomas family yesterday as heavy showers resulted in extensive flooding along Saroop Avenue and several other communities in East Trinidad.

Newsday visited the scene and witnessed first-hand the damage to houses and crops as rising flood water rendered many roads impassable. Boodhoo, a resident of Caroni said that she was at home when she received the call from her brother asking her to take his three infant children with her for the night.

“I came to his house after I got the call but when I finally reached here I saw the the road leading to their home was badly flooded and the vehicle I was in could not go inside. I had to stand at the corner and flag down passing vehicles but no one would stop.”

Boodhoo said that a man on a tractor passing by stopped and rendered assistance to get the family to safety. The man who did not want to be identified said that he was happy to help however he could. Newsday spoke to Donna’s brother, Ryan Boodhoo who said that while flooding in Las Lomas has become a fairly regular part of their lives, he was devastated by the loss of his home.

“This has been going on years now, the poor drainage systems in place are a recurring problem and nobody has seen it fit to try and at least ease the problem. Early this morning I woke up to see my children’s milk and pampers floating in the flood water. I knew something had to be done.”