radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Heaps of water-soaked furniture lay stacked in front of people’s homes at Cedar Hill, Corinth and Cipero Railway Line yesterday, after unprecedented floods backed up from a tributary of the Cipero River, flooding over 15 homes.
At Solomon Street, Etwaria Gang wiped away tears as she watched her grandchildren’s tattered books lying in a heap on the ground.
Gang said the floods came in within minutes and her grandson Rohan quickly disconnected their electrical breaker and took her upstairs.
“That flood was pushing and it came in about three feet inside,” Gang said.
“I woke up this morning crying because I remember what happened yesterday (Thursday),” she added.
Her other grandson Narandra Gang, 21, assisted by neighbours, punched two holes in the walls to get the waters out.
“If we didn’t do that the floods would have been higher. That was how the water drained out to the back,” Gang recalled.
Saying her washing machine is no longer working, Gang said clothing from her sink was also washed away by the waters.
Next door, Rudy Cunjal’s home was also inundated.
The force of the floods had ripped out the tiles in his living room. Cabinets and kitchen cupboards were water soaked and the walls were stained, showing the height the water rose to during their ordeal. Their televisions were wrapped up in plastic.
Cunjal said he and his brother Larry were at work when their children called them screaming that floods were coming into the house.
“They never saw this before and they were terrified,” he recalled.
Cunjal explained that a river which runs alongside the M1 Tasker Road had broken its banks, causing the waters to back up.
The entire downstairs portion of the house was ruined, along with all household appliances and furniture, he revealed.
He said they were thankful that they had not yet purchased new schoolbooks for their children, or else this would also have been washed away by the floods.
Several bags of soiled books and clothing were piled in a heap in front of the house.
Meanwhile, at Rooplal Avenue, Ste Madeliene, several residents were also mopping up. One resident said the floods were over four feet high and covered her car which was parked in the garage.
Councillor for Corinth/Cedar Hill Shawn Premchand said the Cipero River had been narrowed by a contractor, who recently purchased a piece of land on the riverbank.
Premchand showed heaps of bamboo which had been chopped down lying at the side of the river.
“We are calling on the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Local government to investigate this. I raised it before and the failure to resolve the issue about the river has left many people without a dry place to sleep. Some families lost everything,” he said.
He added, “This is affecting the entire region of Corinth/Cedar Hill. We heard of places that never got flooded before. Cipero Railway Line was badly affected, and Victoria Railway Line was as well. In the Corinth Settlement area, the road collapsed at Sixth Street. We have to do something about widening the river.”
Premchand said the floods backed up straight down to the M1 Tasker Road, where Annan Boysie died after floods pushed his van off the road and into a river.
