Brace for more rainfall and floods this week as yet another tropical wave will bring more showers throughout the country. Also in the forecast is a rainy/hurricane season which will be "very active with lots of rain." Saturday's heavy rainfall which affected areas in north Trinidad was as a result of a tropical wave which passed over T&T. Senior meteorological officer at the T&T Meteorological Office, Shakeer Baig, said the tropical wave brought with it an associated area of cloudiness which produced showers and thunder showers. The wave has since moved away but Baig said another tropical wave, about 800 kilometres from Trinidad, was expected tomorrow into Thursday.
Baig said there would be cloudiness and showery activity throughout the country but "it will not be as bad as Saturday." In a telephone interview yesterday, Baig said this year's rainy/hurricane season would be "very active with lots of rain." Tropical waves and the inter-tropical convergence zone are two features during the rainy season. In late May the Met Office said: "We are in for what could be a rather interesting wet season." Baig said: "We will be very busy in terms of the rainfall. "Again, the season has started off in an active trend." He said there was a system to the west of Jamaica which was being "flagged" since there was a possibility it could develop into a tropical storm.
He advised there was no need to raise alarm because it posed no threat to T&T. Baig said because of the heavy activity there would be a lot of storms forming out of the Atlantic Ocean. His advice to the public was to plan and prepare which was also what the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) revealed last week in a statement. He added: "People need to do their part around their homes. "Clean and clear their drains, trim trees and branches to prepare for high winds and do whatever they can to minimise damage and exercise caution." Baig added rainfall over the next two days would be accompanied with gusty winds and flash-flooding.
The hurricane season officially started on June 1. One of the affected areas during Saturday's rains was Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook. Differently-abled children at the Princess Elizabeth Centre had to be evacuated from the building. Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner and Port-of-Spain Mayor Louis Lee Sing visited the centre yesterday. Flooding has remained a stubborn challenge for the People's Partnership Government since the May 24 general election, despite numerous plans to alleviate it. Last year Warner said "we shall eventually overcome the flooding" and hoped measures implemented would "put an end to the flooding once and for all."
In September last year thousands of people were stranded in Port-of-Spain after torrential showers caused widespread street and flash-flooding. The Ministry of Legal Affairs, South Quay, the Public Transportation Service Corporation Deluxe Coach terminal building and areas, such as Morvant, Laventille, Woodbrook, Maraval and Diego Martin, were affected.Among some of the initiatives announced by the Government last year were:
• August 2010: $30 million emergency relief flood mitigation fund approved by Cabinet to "immediately" deal with flooding;
• September: Implementation of the multi-million dollar drainage plan by Dr Emru Millette;
• September: Construction of detention dams in and around Queen's Park Savannah; and,
• October: Plans by independent contractor Kardway Contractors Ltd to construct retention ponds by the lighthouse on Wrightson Road (to begin in January 2011 and competed in April 2011).