Greenvale braces for more floods

RESIDENTS of Greenvale, La Horquetta were left traumatised yet again as heavy rain pounded down on the community today.

One resident, Shaka Wallace, said he had been monitoring the weather since midnight yesterday, expecting the worst. Wallace lives in Greenvale with his wife and sons aged four and five.

Residents of Greenvale are still trying to recover from flooding less than a month ago.

Wallace said, "We are still traumatised and recovering from the previous events of the 19th of October. We feel like we are somewhat on our own without help, advice or support. People just want to relocate now, people are just in fear.

"I have been up since midnight last night trying to monitor the rivers. The rivers are quite high, the Manuel Congo River is centimetres away from flooding over...anxiety levels are quite high."

Wallace said a lot of people in the area had stayed home and some were evacuated because of the weather.

A press release from the Housing Development Corporation said over the last 24 hours, HDC had been monitoring the levels in the watercourses which border all its housing communities, especially Greenvale Park and Oropune Gardens.

It said water pumps in both communities had been activated and flood bags distributed. It added, "The detention ponds in these areas are low at this time, which is a positive sign and there is still capacity to accept a significant volume of water if rainfall increases."

However, it said, in light of the recent Met Office riverine flooding alert, the HDC had contacted the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation and the Public Transport Service Corporation in case a decision is taken to evacuate residents.

Once the water levels in the detention ponds rose to critical levels, it said, the HDC will work with the first responders to co-ordinate evacuating residents, especially those with disabilities and the elderly, to the nearest shelter. This will be opened by the Tunapuna Piarco Regional Corporation.

The HDC recommended that Greenvale Park and Oropune Gardens residents should take precautions such as elevating valuables and appliances and preparing an emergency bag in case they need to evacuate.

An emergency bag should include a change of clothing, canned goods, can opener, medication (if required), personal hygiene supplies and bottled water.