PORT-OF-SPAIN – Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar once again mobilised the regiment and other relief services to help marooned residents after Monday’s widespread flooding.Persad-Bissessar, accompanied by the National Security Minister John Sandy, toured the island by helicopter to get a first hand view of the disaster.She described the flood situation as “very bad”. “This does not look like Trinidad and Tobago, it looks like a foreign country,” she said. She said the protective services were deployed to help the people marooned in their homes. Temporary flood shelters were set up at the Tarouba Mandir and the Waterloo High School in Freeport, to accommodate the affected residents. Persad-Bissessar, who also toured the affected areas on May 28, after her swearing in ceremony, said she and the Members of Parliament would be “pulling out all the stops” to assist the residents in the affected aras.“It is really sad,” she said after touring the Gasparillo area. While the Prime Minister said she and her MPs would continue working to help the affected people, she called on those more fortunate to donate items, like canned foods, to help the flood victims. Colonel George Robinson, head of the Office of Disaster Preparedness, said his office was mobilised.Floods were reported in 14 areas throughout the country and landslides in Moka and Western Main Road, Carenage. The Meteorological Office in Piarco said while it recorded 29.8 millimetres of rain at its office at 2 p.m. on Monday, the radar readings showed “substantially” more severe weather over west and central Trinidad.
(Trinidad Express)
