(Trinidad Guardian) Residents of Penal, Barrackpore and Debe woke up in shock yesterday after three hours of heavy overnight showers on Tuesday left their homes submerged in two to three feet of floodwater.
Many were marooned in their homes, unable to even venture outside, after widespread flooding in those areas.
In Sammy West Trace, the force of the floodwater caused a wall to collapse onto the property of mechanic Naresh Maharaj. He said a nearby hillside became waterlogged and the force of the dirt pushed over the wall, damaging tools.
“We had a van parked here but fortunately it was not damaged. It got a lot of mud on it,” Maharaj said.
In Rahamut Trace, Marilyn Boodoo and her family were inundated with over three feet of water inside their home. The family urgently requested a pump from the Disaster Management Unit to mitigate the damage.
Along Penal Rock Road near the five-mile mark, over two feet of water remained on the street, stretching for over a mile, making Goodman Trace impassable.
At Ragoonanan Trace, Penal, Simi Jamuna and Roger Mansingh hastily boarded up their pluckshop as the low-lying areas became inundated by floodwater.
Mansingh blamed the flooding on the persistent issue of clogged drains.
“Every year it’s the same kind of floods we get. We have moved out the poultry stocks and we are praying for this water to go down,” he said.
At Lower Barrackpore, an excavator was covered as the river near the Monkey Town Government Primary School rose. The flooding got worse in some areas as the day progressed.
At Mulchand Trace, Sunita Bachoo shared her distress. “Even if you come out of here in the trace from Bikah Trace, the water is high. If you have an emergency, you cannot pass here. We got up this morning and there was less water than this. Right now, water is coming up, and we cannot pass here. Sometimes the water comes inside the house and kitchen,” she said.
Bachoo said while this was the first flooding of the year, it was a recurring problem.
“Every year, it’s flood upon flood,” she lamented. “We need proper drainage,” she lamented.
In Goodman Trace, Penal, Ramraj Goberdhan who is wheelchair bound, expressed his frustration.
“We cannot stop anything about it. We have to cope with it,” Goberdhan said.
He described the challenges faced by residents, including being unable to reach their homes after work, the risk to pets and livestock, and even navigating through flooded areas in his wheelchair.
Ashton Isaac of Goodman Trace was trapped in his house and afraid of what the floodwaters would do.
“Right now we are marooned here. Every time the rain falls, this is the outcome,” Isaac said. “So far, we are hoping this water will go down. Just now, I have to evacuate. I am going to lose everything else.”
From dawn, the chairman of the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation, Gowtam Maharaj and his team toured the flood zones bringing relief to scores of residents. Maharaj emphasised the urgent need for a collaborative approach to address the flooding issues.
“We want to ensure that all natural watercourses are cleared. We want all hands on deck, especially the Ministry of Works, the Drainage Division, the Ministry of Agriculture, Town and Country Planning, all agencies,” Maharaj said.
He added that heavy equipment was on standby to clear watercourses while the Disaster Management team has been assisting residents.
He called on Government to release the $21 million allocated in the last fiscal budget for developmental projects, stressing the importance of timely intervention to prevent future floods.