'I can't take a repeat again'

A SPRINGVALE, Valsayn resident whose daughter’s home was inundated with about four feet of water last Friday was yesterday praying that heavy showers forecast for today and tomorrow does not lead to a repeat of the flood trauma she experienced.

Elizabeth Basanta said the government, NGOs and those who distributed hot food and flood relief items never came to Springvale which was covered by the flood waters last week Friday.

Basanta said the only relief that came was from some police officers who visited the area a few days after the flooding and took information from victims.

Basanta recalled the horror of the flooding which has left her in a state of distress long after the waters subsided. She said the area has experienced flooding because it is located a stone’s throw away from the Caroni River. "But this flood, this was the worst in living memory," Basanta said.

“My daughter, son-in-law and I along with my six dogs remained trapped because the road outside was a lake had about seven feet of water and there was no way out,” she said.

Basanta added that her son-in-law Darrell contacted a friend who owns a kayak and that friend was the one who rowed over to her house and took the dogs away in the kayak.

While awaiting the arrival of the friend, Basanta said her dogs almost drowned. They were rescued and later taken to vet in Tunapuna. Basanta said her family is involved in rescuing dogs and she would have been crushed if her dogs had drowned.

Yesterday she pleaded with the Ministry of Works and Transport to dredge the river. Basanta revealed she is staying at a friend’s home in Port-of-Spain as her house is yet to be repaired. She is hoping the councillor for the area intervenes in some meaningful way to assist the more than 40 homeowners affected by the floods.

Basanta said she heard of a weather system over the country that is forecast to bring heavy rains and potential flooding today and tomorrow. "I am just hoping the rains do not bring a repeat of the flooding I experienced last week. That would be too much to bear," she said.