Penal hit by street flash flooding

COMMUTERS in Penal had their journeys temporarily delayed due to flash street flooding on June 11 but the Penal Debe Regional Corporation (PDRC) chairman has credited the waters' quick recession to recent mitigation plans.

The streets were inundated by an intense but brief downpour shortly before midday following a night of rainfall. Several parts of Penal Rock Road were rendered near impassable for low vehicles like cars and wagons.

Many drivers pulled aside as they plotted their next steps. Some were emboldened to follow behind brave motorists who decided to risk driving their cars through the water while others turned back, hoping to find an alternate route.

"Nah don't study it, that water would go down in 15/20 minutes," one resident shouted to the Newsday team which was among motorists marooned by the quickly rising waters.

Without the risk of causing expensive damage to a vehicle, some pedestrians chose to walk through the floods while at least one was spotted hopping on the back of a truck to get a lift through the deluge.

The floods also prompted the South West Regional Health Authority to close the Rock Road Health Centre at 1 pm.

PDRC chairman Gowtam Maharaj said parts of Clarke Road and Clarke Rochard Road also experienced similar flooding. He credited the speedy recession of the water to mitigation work enacted under the new UNC administration upon taking office last month.

The Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government launched its flood mitigation exercise on May 13 and focused on the cleaning, dredging and clearing of watercourses throughout the country.

Several of the watercourses within the PDRC catchment have been a part of this, using larger machinery which Maharaj said the corporation had been requesting over the years. He said the exercises are also still ongoing.

"It's a very compound exercise. It's a very integrated exercise. It is all supported by every member of Parliament, instructed by the Prime Minister.

"So it has the political will, I call it, I see is the major difference. One may ask why this beautiful result did not come earlier and people had to suffer the trauma. Of course, it requires what I call the political will."

While most of the flooding was limited to low-lying parts of roads, some nearby residents unfortunately faced water entering their homes.

One such area which saw residents impacted was the Old Quinam Road, Rock Road. The first two houses on the street reported having a few inches of water enter their homes as they breached their defences.

Vijay Bhim told Newsday this was a normal occurrence for them since the empty land was mined. He said this causes all the water to flow across the Penal Rock Road, onto their street and homes. Newsday witnessed the occurrence during the downpour as water crossed the main road and flowed down into the lower Old Quinam Road which lay a few feet lower.

"Anytime we go anywhere and we see rain we have to leave and come home," his mother, who did not give her name, said.

Bhim said they had a few inches of water inside the house and their water pump was broken by the flood.

His neighbour, Andell Cudjoe, said their councillor Shanti Boodram has been helping them by getting a waterway behind their homes cleaned to help the water flow out faster. But now he believes it's time for infrastructure development.

"But it's only so much you could do. The water that coming from across there, these drains (along the Old Quinam Road) can't accommodate."

While not aware of the specific situation, Maharaj said the corporation was aware of complaints about mining in the burgess and is investigating the reports.

"Any activity being done, albeit private, our position is, and I am supported by law is there should not be an inconvenience as a result of one's activity. So we've actually started investigations into two of such mining that we have. We are supportive of people doing mining in their private land but there must be no consequence that is detrimental to other members of the community."

Maharaj said there were also reports of downed trees which the corporation's Disaster Management Unit (DMU) responded to and were assisted by T&TEC and the fire service.

The recent rainfall was the result of the passage of a tropical wave across both islands. As a result, the TT Met Office issued an adverse weather alert which went into effect at 2 am June 10 and was expected to end at 4 pm on June 11. However, it was extended to 4 pm on June 12.

The office said settling was expected overnight but there was a medium (60 per cent) chance for periodic heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms to return during the early morning of June 12.

It warned there was an increased risk of street flooding and landslides/landslips, particularly in areas with saturated soils.

It said while major rivers were below significant thresholds, they were steadily rising as a result of recent rainfall.

The Met Office urged those in flood and landslide-prone areas to remain alert, take precautions where necessary and monitor official updates.