Torrential rains caused havoc in several parts of South Trinidad, destroying crops, livestock and property. Affected people were still counting their losses last night which they estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Residents of Alta Garcia Trace were marooned in their homes and children from the San Francique Hindu and Presbyterian schools were unable to get to classes.
The Fyzabad Anglican Secondary School was also flooded out and children were forced to stay in their classrooms until the flood waters subsided. Areas in Penal including Jokhan Trace, Raju Trace, Clarke Street, Dorbassa Trace and San Francique Main Road were affected by the floods.
Pamela Manick, the owner of Jags Food Value Supermarket in San Francique, was in the process of selling reporters umbrellas when the floods began cascading into the store around 10 am. Manick and her husband, Jagdish, quickly began packing sacks of rice, flour and pet food on higher shelves. Within minutes the store had over two feet of water. Her neighbour, Mahindra Gopie, waded through the flood water to help stack cases of drinks in front of the store in an attempt to block the water.
“This is the first time that we got flooding this way. Normally we get floods on the roads but not in here,” Manick said. She could not assess her losses. Chanrika Gopie, who lives at 284 San Francique Road, said his water pump, television, bed and furniture set were destroyed by the floods. “My son’s apartment was flooded. The rains fell for a few hours and we could not salvage anything because the room is locked. We do not know what else from his apartment were damaged,” Gopie said.
Narine Deonarine said the floods occurred because of poor drainage. He said when the drains were constructed they were not made wide enough to accommodate the water flow. “In some areas there are no box drains. They need to complete the projects and widen the cylinders so that the water will flow,” Deonarine said.
Afzal Hosein also said it was the biggest flood the residents had seen within recent times. “People cannot come out of their homes. Nobody expected it to flood so quickly. The rains took us by surprise.” Resident Harripersad Lal Dookie said the recent land clearing for the Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension could be responsible for most of the flooding. He said the flood gates were dysfunctional and hundreds of acres of prime agricultural lands were destroyed because of the infiltration of salt water.
Floods were also reported at Lower Barrackpore. Disaster management teams from the Siparia Regional Corporation and Penal/Debe Regional Corporation spent hours touring the flood-ravaged communities, distributing food stuff and mattresses.
MP: Don’t blame highway work
Fyzabad MP Chandresh Sharma yesterday denied reports that the highway construction was responsible for the flooding at Khan Trace, Market Street and Mon Desir Road. He said a drain was being built close to the Fyzabad Anglican Secondary School and this failed to channel the water flow. “It is an incomplete project. It is not unusual for flooding to occur once we get this level of rainfall.”
He added that villagers were quick to unite to help each other. He said state agencies such as Cepep, URP, Office of Disaster Preparedness, disaster management teams and members of parliament worked together to bring immediate relief.
Watch out for landslides
Chief Meteorologist Shakeer Baig said yesterday that the rainfall was due to the passage of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). He advised citizens to be wary of possible landslides and gusty winds. He also warned citizens to be alert to electrical discharges from thunderclouds.