Bamboo braced for Beryl

WITH many still harbouring painful memories in the aftermath of a six-day-long flood in 2022, Bamboo No 2 residents were preparing for the worst on July 1 with the passage of Hurricane Beryl.

When Newsday visited the area mid-morning on July 1, several residents said they had spent the day before preparing to leave their homes if flooding started.

But with less rainfall than expected, there was no need to evacuate. There were no reports of flooding up until 1 pm.

In 2022, the area was under water for six days after the Caroni River breached its banks. Some homes were filled with much as eight feet of water. At that time, residents said a Ministry of Works and Transport Drainage Division pump malfunctioned, causing the flood.

On June 30, the Met Office put Trinidad under a tropical storm warning ahead of the passage of Hurricane Beryl, while Tobago was under a hurricane warning. At 11.30 am, the tropical storm warning was discontinued and replaced by an orange-level adverse-weather alert. Tobago's warning was downgraded to from a hurricane warning to a tropical storm warning.

Rishi Sookram lives and runs his auto repair shop near the Caroni River.

He said residents were still worried about whether a temporary pump – which was installed after 2022 – would be able to handle the volume of water from heavy rainfall.

"Everybody watching the weather and they thinking for the worst-case scenario, because the pump is not working."

Sookram said his family kept their evacuation plan from 2022 and were ready to leave their home at a moment's notice.

"Everything is up, so if the water is coming in, it's just to put up the final stuff like the bed, fridge and stove and leave.

"Once the water come, there is nothing else we could do. We are in gear for it, in case anything happen."

Rohan Singh, who lives on Temple Street, said he too had learnt from the 2022 flood.

"We got sandbags and put it by the doors. We were just waiting and watching the river to see what would happen."

His family was also evacuated in 2022.

He was also concerned about whether the temporary pump could save the community from flooding.

"That is a small pump they put. That not going and pull out that water if rain really fall hard."

At Bobby's Motor Supplies and Accessories Ltd, manager Kaleem Hamid said the company was still recovering from its losses in the 2022 flood.

Hamid said the company has spent over $1 million mitigating against future flood damage: removable floodgates were installed and all pedestrian entrances were raised above five feet.