As thousands of affected residents are said to be still reeling from the disastrous floods over the last few days, T&T was affected by continuous bad weather on Sunday morning.
Several areas within the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation and the Couva Tabaquite Talparo Regional Corporation were affected.
According to an incident report as of 11 am there were four areas under several feet of water; one incident of a fallen tree at the vicinity of LP79 Orange Field Road, in Carapichaima,which blocked off the road to all pedestrian and vehicular traffic for several hours; one report of high winds/roof damage– all in the CTTRC and a report of a landslide and high winds/roof damage in the SJLRC. Tarpaulins were handed out to several residents within the SJLRC.
The Office of Disaster Preparedness Management (ODPM) said it despatched additional relief supplies to Tobago via the Cabo Star which was set to sail on Sunday afternoon. Items included trash pumps, rope of various sizes, cleaning buckets, cooler, raincoats and batteries.
On Sunday at about 7.38 am, the T&T Meteorological Service issued an Adverse Weather Alert #1 - Yellow Level.
The alert, according to the ODPM, comes in light of the lingering Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in and around T&T. That alert remained in effect until 8 pm on Sunday.
During the day on Sunday, there was rainfall of varying intensity with thunderstorm activity reported in Central and North Trinidad. There were localised street/flash flooding in several areas including, Couva, Freeport and Carapichaima.
At about 7.45 am a tree fell across the Orange Field Road, in Carapichaima, blocking off access to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
A resident close by to where the incident occurred told the Guardian Media that a lightening struck. “A lightening struck and the tree fell thereafter. The wind was very strong too. For a while that tree was there as a risk and they were supposed to come and cut it down but no one came. Thank God when the tree fell no car or no person was passing on the road,” the resident said.
During a visit at the scene, a T&TEC worker who was among two crews, including the Chaguanas Fire Station clearing the branches said it was the only incident in the area so far, as of 10.30 am.
As of 10.30 am, according to a River Level Advisory issued by the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government, some of the major rivers were between 41 percent and 71 percent capacity.
Residents were warned of elevated river levels which may result in spillage into their respective communities. They were also advised that due to the High Tides there would have been a slower water run off.
The Caroni River (Bamboo Settlement #3) was at 71 per cent; El Carmen (Caroni River) at 62 per cent; South Oropouche 61 per cent; Caparo 59 per cent; North Oropouche (Toco Road) 51 per cent; Arouca 48 per cent and Aripo River at 41 per cent.
