ITCZ causes street, flash flooding in east Trinidad

Inclement weather, which began early Wednesday morning, has caused street and flash flooding in several areas in east Trinidad.

On Wednesday, the Met Office issued its second yellow-level adverse weather alert as an active Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) produced widespread showers and thunderstorms with associated gusty winds across Trinidad.

The riverine flooding alert was raised to orange level on Wednesday afternoon.

Speaking briefly to Newsday, Sangre Grande Regional Corporation chairman Anil Juteram said there were several reports of flooding in low-lying areas, including Guaico, La Vega, and Oropouche.

Chairman of the Tunapuna/Piarco Corporation Kwasi Robinson said reports of flooding were received from Santa Rosa to Arouca.

He said landslips were reported on Riverside Road, Maracas Valley, and Moonan Road, Wallerfield.

For the most part, he said, reports of water entering homes were minimal, with only two confirmed incidents. He had also heard of reports of street flooding south of the corporation, around the Caroni River Basin.

A drain is reported to have collapsed in Maloney and Robinson said the councilor and MP for the area were there and had the situation under control. He said work on the drain would happen in the coming weeks.

“Climate change is real,” said Robinson. “I have been in the corporation since 2013 and I cannot remember a time where this (number) of bulletins were issued in one to two weeks.

“Usually you will get a bulletin and nothing would happen, but it has literally been bulletin after bulletin and we’re actually getting street and flash flooding.”

He said the corporation is working on projects which examine alternative solutions to flooding. “We can’t build drains to keep up with what’s happening. We need more sustainable solutions.”

He said one issue is people casting their entire yard, leaving water to run into the streets.

“If we’re talking infrastructural renewal for the region here, we’re talking about hundreds of millions over time, so we need to find other ways which we’re actively working on.”

He said it has become difficult to keep up with the rate and intensity of inclement weather.

Arima Mayor Cagney Casimire said the rain did not affect Arima as much as other areas. Casimire said he checked with councillors on Wednesday morning and no reports had been made.

“The water is running out very quickly. We’re doing pretty good so far.”