By Chantalé Fletcher
FIRE officers rescue a pregnant woman who was trapped in a van as flood waters rose in Princes Town on Sunday.
She and the male driver were travelling in Borde Narve, Princes Town.
And in Rancho Quemado, 35-year-old Christopher Samuel lost his life when his house collapsed in a landslide.
An existing landslip in Syne Village, Penal, along the SS Erin Road, collapsed making the roadway impassable, the Oropouche West MP Davendranath Tancoo stated in a release on Sunday.
The Aranguez and the Cascade Rivers were also high.
Heavy rains and thunderstorm activity were experienced across T&T on Sunday morning as a result of inclement weather due to the passage of Tropical Storm Grace, although it posed no direct threat to T&T.
The Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government stated there were reports of flash flooding, fallen trees and landslides within the San Juan\Laventille and Siparia regions.
In addition, there was street flooding within the Penal/Debe and Princes Town regions.
Several homes were also impacted throughout the country while members of the public were temporarily rendered stranded and some roadways became impassable in Siparia, Palo Seco and Central Trinidad.
The T&T Meteorological Service (TTMS) stated that an Adverse Weather Alert was discontinued and downgraded to Green Level.
At 5.23pm, the Met Office stated, “The threat of impactful weather has diminished significantly. Generally settled conditions are forecast despite a few showery interruptions.”
Opposition MP for Chaguanas West Dinesh Rambally blamed years of neglect by authorities for flooding in his constituency.
He said, “It was neglect from persons who are in a position to do something but did not do anything to re-construct some of the drainage.”
Rambally said existing water ways and drains though dilapidated were not cleaned and cleared regularly.
He said, “When the rains do fall, people are always being inconvenienced in my constituency and others.”
Rambally said, “This is a problem that requires a holistic approach and until the authorities, regional corporations and the relevant personnel do not sit down and come up with a holistic approach, dealing with the major water coursers first, and then dealing with the outflows that goes into the major water sources; we are going to have this as a perennial, perpetual problem.”
Tancoo and Councillor for the area Romona Victor, visited the landslip in Penal and spoke to residents and commuters who expressed their grave concerns that the collapse of the roadway will occur, as well as cause further damage to properties nearby, a release by the MP stated.
Tancoo said that one year ago he pointed out that the roadway was collapsing and had become a single lane along this main thoroughfare between Penal and all points south including Siparia, Los Iros, Erin, etc.
The release stated, “It took months before some action was taken and the problem was allegedly repaired and the roadway patched. Councillor Victor and the MP had expressed grave dissatisfaction about the quality of repairs done. Mere months later, the road began to collapse again reverting to a single lane.”
Today (Sunday) the road has been rendered impassable, the MP stated.
