Desperate to save his piglets, farmer Nathaniel Mungal opened up his pens and allowed the animals free to seek refuge on a nearby hill while flood waters rose all around him on Friday.
The 70-plus piglets squealed as they scampered along the sides of their pens at Monkey Town, Barrackpore, while a bare-backed Mungal, with cigarette in his mouth, opened their pens.
“When the water comes in I want them to find a place to run because last time dozens of them drowned,” Mungal said.
With black clouds overhead, Mungal said he was worried if his farm became inundated with floods he will be unable to cope for the Christmas season.
“The last time I got flooded I never received one red cent. They came and took reports but I got nothing to help me start back my business,” Mungal said.
He said there was poor drainage behind the pens.
“I have asked that the drains be cleaned on a regular basis but because the rivers are clogged, the water backs up around here,” he said.
Meanwhile, floods rose along Lowkie Trace and around Penal Rock Road.
Resident Selina Mohammed and her husband Maniff stood with tall boots sweeping away water from under their shed. There was also flooding along parts of Penal Rock Road, near Scott’s Road and Moruga.
Penal/Debe Regional Corporation chairman Dr Allen Sammy said the disaster management unit was on standby to lend assistance to affected residents.
Councillor Shanti Boodram said Clarke Road, Aquart Village and Lachoos Road also experienced flooding. There was also flooding along San Francique Road.
“The Ministry of Works failed to clear the water courses this year and this is why we have frequent floods. Also, illegal back-filling has exacerbated the problem. When people don’t come through the corporation to get clearance, we end up with a situation where the whole community floods,” Boodram said.
Several parts of East and Central Trinidad also experienced flooding.
Madras Road, St Helena, was impassable along with several areas in Caroni, Piarco, San Raphael and Las Lomas, Endeavour Road, Chaguanas among other areas.
A segment of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway, near Maloney, was also flooded.
Parts of Sangre Grande are also under water with several roads impassable. Traffic along the Valencia Old Road was also cut off by rising water, as well as Mausica Road, D’Abadie.
The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management in a statement advised residents to seek shelter and delay travel until roadways were declared safe. There was gridlock traffic for those seeking to leave the capital city of Port-of-Spain and along Churchill Roosevelt and Solomon Hochoy highways, during the after rush-hour.
Resident Kristle Solomon said the floods entered her home at Boy Cato Road, Madras.
“The drainage behind the house and over the road is causing real problems. Right now we have stacked up towels by the back door so that the floods cannot come inside,” Solomon said.
The Chaguanas region was also flooded out along the Connector Road, Chadee Lohan Road, Crowne Trace, and the Edinburgh 500 areas after the Cunupia River broke its banks.
Along Welcome Road, Cunupia, residents were marooned by the floods. The St Helena Bypass Road was impassable.
Polly Balliram, of Las Lomas 3, said the entire area was flooded that many residents suffered losses.
“We have about four feet of water in the back of the house. The water went into the fridge. All the beds wet. We will have to go upstairs tonight because everything downstairs soaked,” Balliram said.
Residents of Woodland were also bracing for flooding. Many placed sandbags around their homes to prevent any water intrusion.
T&T moved to Red Alert with a riverine flood warning in effect, especially with the high tide and continuing rainfall.
In an adverse weather alert issued by the T&T Meteorological Service, citizens were advised of continued showers and thunderstorm activity, which can lead to flash or riverine flooding and landslides and landslips in areas so prone.
Rainfall is expected to continue until Sunday.