FLOODS BATTER SOUTH TRINIDAD – Penal, Barrackpore, Woodland, Moruga hardest hit

Many people were left stranded in their houses on Monday owing to the South Oropouche River and its tributaries bursting their banks and causing severe flooding.

Particularly in the south, many roads became impassable, and people suffered significant losses.

Penal, Debe, Barrackpore, Woodland and Moruga were among the hardest hit communities, and on Monday afternoon, the water was still rising.

On Monday, the TT Meteorological Service (Met Office) upgraded Sunday's yellow riverine flood alert to an orange level alert for south Trinidad. The alert is set to end on Tuesday at 5 pm.

The office anticipated more rains "over the next 24 hours," which would raise the river levels even more.

Like the Met Office that called on people not to take unnecessary risks in flood, the Rural Development and Local Government Ministry urged people to avoid driving through or wading through rising floodwaters for their safety.

Affected people can seek shelter at the "activated emergency shelters" at the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation (PDRC) and the Barrackpore Regional Complex.

The ministry said two other buildings—Woodland Hindu School and Esperance Regional Complex —were "on standby" for use if necessary.

At New Colonial Road in Barrackpore, only trucks were able to drive through the floodwater.

Some residents, including Haffize Mohammed and businessman Nick Boodram, used a tractor to pass through floodwater. They said they were driving around and looking for anyone who might have been stranded on the road.

Mohammed said the water was so high at several areas off Rochard Douglas Road, like Sukhan Trace, that the tractor could not pass there.

"We went to see who we could have assisted. We helped about four people who were stranded on the road."

Boodram of Nick's Poultry Depot said if they had a helicopter, they would have used it to help the affected people.

There were reports of farmers losing their chickens to the floodwater in Barrackpore. Newsday was unable to venture further into the floodwater.

PDRC chairman Dr Allen Sammy said the corporation sent 200 sandbags to people in the Barrackpore area. The corporation was also distributing sandbags "on demand" to anyone.

He added," The flood was so bad that several schools, like Suchit Trace Hindu, Debe Hindu and Ramai Trace Hindu, were closed for the day."

He recalled at around 2 am, members of the corporation's disaster management unit (DMU) evacuated a family at Suchit Trace. This family was relocated to the shelter in Barrackpore.

Hours later, around 11 am, the DMU members evacuated a family at Mulchan Trace, off the Penal Rock Road, Penal, and relocated them with other relatives.

Sammy anticipated the situation to get worse, considering the rain was ongoing.

When Newsday visited Suchit Trace, parts of the road were still impassable.

Residents Ryan Ramlal and Ravi Jugmohan walked through the water to get to the other side of the road.

Ramlal said he wanted to buy a few items from a business place.

"We have vehicles, but we cannot use them," Ramlal said.

At Gopie Trace, a street away, the problem was similar. Drivers were seen rerouting as water flooded the roadway.

Oropouche West MP Davendranath Tancoo toured affected areas like Puzzle Island and Ragoonanan Trace in Penal, as well as Pluck Road, Woodland, on a truck on Monday.

He said the water was as high as four feet in some homes, "and the water is now starting to come."

Parts of Pluck Road were also impassable. Resident Ramdeen Manchand waited on the roadside, hoping the water would subside so he could get to his nearby home at Binda Trace.

Manchand recalled that his wife awakened him at about 1.30 am to inform him that floodwater was entering the house. The couple and their five children immediately began moving items to higher grounds.

"At least once a year, this area is flooded. Last year, we had flooding about two or three times. This year, the flood came earlier than usual. The hurricane season started a few days ago, and we already have this. Normally, we expect a flood a few weeks later."

He was unsure how high the water level reached into his home or the extent of the damage to the house and household articles. The house is near the South Oropouche River.

There were also reports of flooding at Siparia, Aripero, Fyzabad and Chase Village.

A summary from the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) on Monday mid-morning said listed several reports of residential flooding in areas like Basse Terre Village, La Rufin, and La Fortune, all in Moruga.

It added that the water had subsided, and representatives from the Princes Town Regional Corporation's DMU assessed damage and distributed relief.

In the East Region, the ODPM reported two instances of street flooding, one at Cedar Grove in Mayaro and the other at Poole Valley in Rio Claro. A house was flooded at Jairam Trace in Navet, and a tree fell at Lassalle Trace in Biche. The bad weather also damaged the roof of a house at Tambi Lane, Rest House Village.

As of Monday afternoon, the El Carmen River in Caroni reached 73 percent capacity, and the Caroni River (Bamboo Settlement No 3) was at 64 per cent.

In case of an emergency, people can call any of the corporations as well as the ODPM at 511 or 800-ODMP (6376).