Bad weather hits water, electricity supplies

BAD weather from a tropical disturbance approaching TT caused a loss of electricity supply and water-supply to several areas, according to statements by TTEC and WASA on Thursday.

A TTEC statement on Thursday morning said its crews were continuing work from overnight, responding to outages triggered as a result of the adverse weather conditions experienced.

"Overhead lines and other infrastructure have been damaged mainly due to trees and branches felled by the high winds.

"The largest affected area is on the north coast – La Fillette, Maracas, Las Cuevas and Blanchisseuse."

Smaller outages occurred on individual streets in Belmont, Maracas, Laventille, Diego Martin, Tamana, Claxton Bay and Brasso Seco, while Allandale Settlement in Cumana and Flagstaff in Charlotteville were also affected.

"On Santa Barbara St in Maracas, St Joseph, some customers have already been restored but additional tree trimming work is required to restore all customers.

"Overnight, crews restored supply to over 25 communities between 10 pm (Wednesday) to 5 am (Thursday.)

Other crews were redeployed to north west Trinidad to assist with restoration.

"We thank affected customers for their patience as we work to restore their supply in the quickest possible time."

TTEC corporate communications manager Annabelle Brasnell on Thursday late afternoon told Newsday, "Everything we had from last night into this morning, they have all been resolved."

She said on Thursday five new areas were affected, to which crews had been deployed.

The areas were La Finette in Maraval, Gonzales, Gasparillo Road in Santa Cruz, and one street in Le Platte Village in Maraval. A crew was also sent to one newly-affected area in Tobago.

In addition, TTEC's Facebook page also announced maintenance works due on Thursday planned before news of the weather disturbance. These were for areas of Diego Martin and Matelot both which were announced as cancelled, plus Curepe (Ragbir Street), Casuarina and Biche, all of which were due to be done by 4 pm.

A WASA statement on Thursday morning said its operations had been stopped in three broad regions due to bad weather, namely north east and north west Trinidad plus Tobago.

"Heavy overnight rainfall has impacted operations at some of the authority’s surface water treatment facilities in the northern region and parts of Tobago.

"Some facilities have been returned to service, whilst other water treatment plants remain inoperable due to clogged intake screens caused by high turbidity as a result of flooded river conditions."

In several areas of north east Trinidad, WASA reported, "Operations stopped due to flooded river/ clogged intake screens. River conditions are continually being assessed to determine when works can commence." The affected facilities (plus the affected areas they serve) were: Caura (El Dorado, Tacarigua, parts of Tunapuna); La Pastora (La Pastora, Lopinot); Mc David (Surrey Village, Lopinot); Aripo (Santa Rosa, Wallerfield, Malabar); Tompire (Toco, Balandra); and Matura (Matura).

Areas served by facilities at Acono, Luengo/Naranjo, Guanapo, North Oropouche, and Quare were reported as having "returned to service."

WASA reported areas in north west Trinidad having operations stopped, with river conditions being monitored towards a resumption of water-supply.

These affected facilities included Tyrico, Blanchisseuse, Las Cuevas, La Fillette and Rincon which supply the north coast of Trinidad. Other affected facilities (and the areas they supply) were

St Ann's (parts of St Ann's); La Canoe (parts of Santa Cruz); and Grand Curacaye, Pipiol Reservoir and Susconosco (all supplying parts of Santa Cruz.)

In Tobago, operations were stopped at two WASA facilities, with river conditions being assessed.

These were the Hillsborough West facility (affecting Hope, John Dial, Bacolet, Friendsfield and Government House Road) plus the Highlands Road facility (affecting Mason Hall and Moriah.)