Trapped for 15 hours while flood waters rose around her, 76-year-old Bissoondaye Nanan cried for help before she was finally rescued by villagers who used an inflatable raft.
Nanan was among hundreds of people left stranded in their homes because of rising flood waters in the Oropouche Basin. What was worse is that her situation became dire because their cries for assistance from the T&T Regiment or T&T Coast Guard were ignored.
Nanan, of Suchit Trace, Penal, stood crying helplessly in her living room while the floods rose early yesterday. It was only when her son Ishwar Gopaul flagged down a media crew travelling on top of a dump truck, that Nanan was finally rescued by a crew from the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation who were in an inflatable raft.
Gopaul said he was worried for his mother.
“She is in the water for too long. She is sick and old. She needs help. Please help her out,” he pleaded.
The four major rivers in the Oropouche Basin overflowed and all schools in the region were closed yesterday after flood waters rose overnight due to continuing rainfall. Major areas, including Boodoo Trace, Ragbir Trace, Gopie Trace, Tulsa Trace, Clarke Road, Rochard Road, Penal Rock Road, Barrackpore Trace and Rochard Douglas Road, were totally impassable for the entire day yesterday. Funerals were cancelled and emergency teams could not reach the hard-hit areas.
At Gopie Trace, Anna Bheemul said an old man suffered a stroke and the ambulance could not get him out.
“We had to load him on top of a tractor and take him to the hospital,” she said.
Along Satnarine Trace and Rochard Road, residents could be seen stranded in their homes.
One man shouted, “Where is the army? People here need help.”
A family was seen on top of the roof of their patio at Pluck Road, Woodland.
The floods from the higher regions of Barrackpore and Debe inundated the Woodland region and floods were seen entering homes and businesses. Two cars were almost submerged and other vehicles were abandoned at the side of San Francique Road and La Fortune, Woodland.
Many of the residents expressed anger at Minister of National Security Stuart Young, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Minister of Local Government Kazim Hosein for failing to help them.
A man identified only as Mr Gookool waded through waist height water with his cow when the T&T Guardian team arrived. Displaced poultry was also seen swimming in the lagoon while pets were taken to higher ground.
Many of the residents in Penal had no food or water. At Gopie Trace, six boys, Donny Maharaj, Alex Seepersad, Andy Seerattan, Shiva Lalla, Sanjeev Sundar and Neel Ramlal, used two rafts to carry refreshments to villagers.
“Nobody could go to work or school today, so we are doing what we can to help people get out and to bring back food and drinks for them,” Maharaj said.
Unlike unscrupulous wrecker operators who had charged between $300 to $900 to pull stranded residents from the floods since Thursday evening, Maharaj said their transportation was free.
By midday, some of the areas, including Tenet Trace, Pluck Road, Birbal Trace, Dwarpaul Trace, Tulsa Trace and Raju Trace, began getting free meals from the Siparia Regional Corporation. Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal also distributed meals.
Councillor for Siparia West/Fyzabad Doodnath Mayrhoo said many people will have no dry place to sleep for a while.
Saying this year’s floods were similar to what occurred last November, Mayrhoo blamed the situation on poor drainage and non-functioning floodgates.
“The sluice gates at Woodland is malfunctioning. There are seven gates in St John and four of them are not working. This is why we have a backup of the floods. I want the Government to initiate action so that we can bring immediate relief and compensation for these affected residents,” Mayrhoo said.
Earlier in the day, Penal/Debe Regional Corporation chairman Dr Allen Sammy said the inflatable rafts they had were donated by the US Embassy but he said this was not enough to do rescues.
He also slammed the wrecker operators who were charging up to $900 to pull stranded motorists from rising flood waters. With more rain predicted for the weekend, Sammy said the evacuation was necessary for some areas. He called on the Ministry of Works and Agriculture to do the comprehensive clearing of the watercourses.
Ministry: 230 household affected
The Ministry of Local Government said yesterday that there were 230 households affected by flooding in Penal/Debe and out of these situations 20 people were rescued.
It added that the Quinam/Penal Government Primary School was set up as a shelter and there were six families seeking lodging.
In Siparia, it said areas under water were Woodland, San Francique, Fyzabad, Silver Stream and South Oropouche. A landslide was also reported at Queen Street, Siparia.
Other areas in the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation region included El Carmen, Madras Road and Piarco By-Pass Road where a total of 309 households were affected. No rescues were reported there.