New Grant man swept away in Williamsville flood still missing

A 49-year-old man fell in the road while walking over a bridge through floodwater at Hardbargain, Williamsville on Monday. Then, before Anthony "Tony" Walkes could stand up, the raging water swept him into a nearby river, where he disappeared.

Up until Tuesday afternoon, a search team was combing the area hoping to find him.

Walkes, a former Caroni (1975) Ltd worker of New Grant, is originally from the area.

The incident happened at around 2.30 pm at Halls Trace. Walkes had earlier visited a friend and was returning to his home at New Grant.

A resident recalled that she was speaking to someone on her cellphone from her home, when she saw him fall. The flood water was rising in the road and her property. She said one minute she saw him, and the next, he disappeared.

"The water covered the bridge. I feel he 'misaveraged' and the current pulled him down. He is tall, but we did not see him after that. I was with my sons on the back step and we started to scream. It happened very fast. I was on the phone and couldn’t tape it," she said.

"It is the first time the level reached so high."

Other residents were alerted but they too could not find Walkes.

Fire officers, Defence Force members, relatives, volunteers, representatives from the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) and members of the NGO Search and Rescue joined the search. It was called off at around 5 pm on Tuesday but is expected to resume on Wednesday morning.

Walkes’ nephew Darren said they have been searching non-stop since he disappeared. Walkes, who is feared drowned, is  an outpatient of the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital.

Councillor for the area Gowrie Roopnarine said he too went on the search.

"That is the black river. The water went down late last night. Several homes were flooded. There were no reports of flooding in the area today."