Heavy rain causes flooding in Penal, Rio Claro

SEVERAL areas in Penal and Rio Claro were flooded on Tuesday after hours of heavy rain as the country remained on a yellow-level adverse weather alert.

The Met Office said heavy showers would start around 5 am and were expected to end around 6 pm.

When Newsday contacted the Penal/Debe Corporation, a representative said the roads at Rock Road and Suchit Trace were "completely underwater."

A tree had also fallen earlier in the day at Suchit Trace and drivers had to use alternative routes. But this was cleared by noon.

The representative said the corporation had not received any reports of property damage from residents at that time.

Around 3 pm, councillor for Rio Claro North Hazarie Ramdeen told Newsday he had just returned home for a quick bite before he continued his walkabout to see which areas of the community were affected.

At that point, he said many roads were impassable, including Crapaud Flat, Killdeer Road, San Pedro Railway Trace, and Dades Extension nos 2 and 3.

He said some people were unable to leave their homes, as their yards had also been flooded. But he said he got no reports of property damage.

"I have never seen flooding like this in this area before," he said.

He posted photos to his Facebook page showing the extent of the floods.