© Lincoln HolderDEAD UNDER WATER: Sharp, heavy showers led to widespread flash flooding leaving many areas in south Trinidad, including the Batchyia cemetery in Penal, under water on November 12.
So severe was the weather that the Met Office placed TT on a yellow-level flood alert between 10.15 am-3.30 pm on November 12.
The flooding was widespread in the south land as to affect classes at several schools, led to residents being marooned in their homes. Even the dead was affected as flood waters inundated the Batchyia public cemetery in Penal, with this final resting spot for many being transformed into a lake.
For several hours, only the tops of headstones and metal crosses were visible in the cemetery while dozens of graves which had neither headstone nor crosses, were completely hidden under the water.
The downpours began before the break of dawn, and by mid-morning, water levels in some areas in Debe, Siparia and outlying areas had risen to as much as three feet.
By 1.30 pm, parents and guardians were seen in Penal trying to pick up their children as water levels continued to rise.
The Penal Debe Regional Corporation, including its disaster management unit, with the help of Defence Force officers evacuated students from several schools as they were trapped by the floods.
Corporation chairman Gowtam Maharaj said that teams evacuated students from Penal Rock Road RC, Penal Rock Road Presbyterian and the Kubairsingh Penal Rock Hindu schools.
"We also moved students from (Holy Faith) Convent. Some schools took the initiative to dismiss classes early, but students and staff were still marooned."
Maharaj said they were also moving people from the taxi stands at the Penal Junction to nearby areas, using dinghies to transport residents directly to their homes.
"Right now, we are working toward getting everyone home tonight. The army is working with us, and I am operating as the command centre chief. This is a disaster, and distress calls are coming in about water entering homes," he said.
Parts of the Penal Rock Road cemetery, near Crawford Trace were submerged and the Disaster Management Unit (DMU) received reports of fallen trees in Gopie Trace, Penal.
Parent Ashiq Mohammed drove through rising flood waters, in the pouring rain, to reach and pick up his son at Shiva Boys' Hindu College on Clarke Road.
Upon reaching the school, he found that his son and other students were stranded, with their parents waiting further along the road, hoping the water would subside.
"I ended up picking up a few other students and bringing them to their parents who couldn't reach the school," Mohammed said.
In several areas, including the roundabout near the Penal Fire Station, the SS Erin Road, and parts of Batchyia Village, the roads became impassable to vehicles.
Drivers parked their cars along the roadside and waited for the flood waters to recede.
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