Roofs blown away, flash flooding as tropical wave passes

A sudden gust of wind took off a roof in Belmont on Tuesday as bad weather due to a passing tropical wave caused flooding and flash flooding in several areas of Trinidad.

Andrew Bartholomew of Agard Lane said the incident happened minutes after he looked out of the window and noted black clouds overhead.

“I went into the kitchen and said, 'Let me cook something before my son comes home,' and the rain came down just so, with heavy thunder and lightning, and then the breeze blow off part of the roof there – whoosh! and bust the wire there.

"So I fly inside one time and turned off the current at the panel box. That was it.

"So everything in the front room here is being wet down. It wasn’t nice at all.”

Bartholomew said once materials were received, the roof wouldn’t take long to fix. He lives there with his wife, three children and a family friend.

Incumbent councillor Nicole Young said the disaster management unit (DMU) of the PoS City Corporation was on its way with a tarpaulin to cover the roof.

“His wife called me in a panic, bawling really, to say she thought the roof had blown off, and I was driving on Jerningham Avenue, so I came across. I couldn’t get out of the vehicle when I arrived, because the rain was still pouring, but when I came out I saw the gaping hole in the roof.

“In addition to the DMU, I also contacted T&TEC, because the line was destroyed.

"In terms of the materials, we could try to get them help through the Self Help programme. The East PoS Development Company has also said they will be assisting the family with materials.”

TT remains under a yellow-level severe weather alert until noon on Wednesday.

Flooding and damage reports:

Reports of flooding included Ariapita Avenue; Wrightson Road; South Quay, near City Gate; Saddle Road, Santa Cruz, approaching the old road; Caroni Savannah Road, Charlieville; Scott Street, San Fernando; the Diego Martin Highway near the Sierra Leone Highway; the Eastern Main Road near the Croisee; the Couva Main Road near the gas station; and the southbound lanes of the Solomon Hochoy Highway near Unicomer and Courts, Freeport.

Buildings which were flooded included the Courts Megastore and the Mt Hope/Mt Lambert Community Centre.

In the north west region, there were 17 fallen trees across the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation, including one obstructing the Lady Young Road. Saw operators were dispatched to the various sites. A tree also fell onto a home at Cameron in Diego Martin.

There was street flooding at Diego Martin at Sinai Street; Port of Spain at Belmont Circular, South Quay, Chacon Street, Wrightson Road, French Street, Colville Street, Mucurapo Road, St. Ann’s Roundabout, Hamilton Holder Street, South Quay at City Gate; and Maraval, at Saddle Road; El Socorro at Boundary Road, Maritime Roundabout and near the Courts Megastore, which was flooded out; and Santa Cruz, Saddle Road.

There were 12 roofs blown off across the regional corporation, including at an HDC building at Pashley Street in Laventille, which left several families homeless.

In the north central region, eight instances of flooding were reported in: Chaguanas at Dass Trace and Goodwill Road; Lendor Village; Enterprise; and along the Southern Main Road, Chaguanas; several reports of street and flash flooding at Edinburgh 500, where the Chaguanas Borough Corporation was en route to assess the reports; the Durham Hindu School at the Caroni Savannah Road; Lange Park at Central Avenue; Oasis Gardens, Chaguanas; and Bynoe Trace, Enterprise Street.

There was one fallen tree along the Maracas Royal Road near Silver Bridge, where power lines were brought down. A roof was blown off a house at Caroni Savannah Road, Charlieville.

In the south central region, there were four reports of flooding at Scott Street, San Fernando; the Southern Main Road in Chase Village near Deosaran’s; the Couva Main Road; and the southbound lane of the Uriah Butler Highway near Unicomer.

In Tobago, a fallen tree was reported to be blocking the Castara Main Road.