Flooding in east, downtown Port of Spain

NARISSA FRASER

MUD and debris were left behind in many Barataria homes and roads on Monday afternoon as heavy rainfall caused flooding in several areas in east and downtown Port of Spain.

In a Facebook post, the TT Weather Channel said, "A moderate to heavy thunderstorm continues to move across Port of Spain and environs, as far east as Lopinot. Street flooding, locally gusty winds and heavy rainfall, in addition to lightning possible. Partly cloudy skies ongoing elsewhere, with isolated showers across Tobago. Frequent lightning ongoing across North-western Trinidad. Street flooding is ongoing along the Eastern Main Road in San Juan and Laventille."

Some of the highly affected areas included Independence Square, the Beetham Highway, Lady Young Road, Old St Joseph Road, the Morvant and Malick Rivers, Maritime Roundabout, El Socorro Road Extension and Fourth Street, Barataria.

Newsday visited Barataria and spoke with some of the affected residents. Most said while they are used to flooding in the area but it was the worst they had been affected in a while. One Fourth Street resident said a new drain was recently built near his house, which he expected to reduce the level flood waters rose to on his compound, but he said he continues to face the same issue.

A woman who recently began doing construction on her house received cleaning assistance from some of the workers who were still there. They said they did not expect rainfall today and had been working since morning. They were seen raking grass, cleaning equipment, removing garbage, and power washing the road.

The woman said, "This is the highest I've ever seen the water rise here, it was straight up to my gate. You could stand from in front the gate and see the (Malick) River overflowing."

She said she is unsure if work can continue as scheduled because of how badly the compound was affected.

Police removed the concrete barriers along the Priority Bus Route to prevent the build-up of water on the road.