PARTS of Port of Spain and environs were hit by floodwaters on Sunday after heavy rain.

Commuters were left stranded in City Gate as South Quay flooded while one motorist was even seen pushing his car through floodwaters on Independence Square.

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) also reported flooding near Riverside Plaza and a fallen tree in Laventille.

Belmont was particularly hard hit with residents reporting a torrent of water flowing along St Francois Valley Road and Belmont Circular Road.

[caption id="attachment_1041500" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A Belmont resident bails out water from his yard after heavy rains caused flooding in the area on Sunday. - Angelo Marcelle[/caption]

Newsday visited the area and was greeted by debris and the stench of a rotting animal along Belmont Circular Road, and other streets with pavements covered in sludge and debris deposited by the raging floodwater as it receded.

An abandoned telephone pole which was left lying at the side of the road was pushed into the middle of Pelham Street by the flood and had to be pushed aside by residents, many of whom said the floods were "nothing new."

Debris were gathered into small piles at the side of several streets after residents attempted to clean the pavement in front of their homes.

Barry Cumberbatch, 75, told Newsday he came home after the rains to discover his yard flooded and parts of it, near to the road, covered in several inches of thick mud.

He said he slipped and fell while trying to cross the mud to enter the yard of his St Francois Valley Road home.

When Newsday arrived, Cumberbatch, shirtless and wearing a back brace, pointed to the sludge and said it was the worst flooding he had seen for the year.

The lifelong Belmont resident said he hoped the floods would not get any worse.

[caption id="attachment_1041501" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Communters are stranded at City Gate in Port of Spain by floodwaters after heavy rain on Sunday. - Angelo Marcelle[/caption]

“We had two or three floods so far but this one is bad. We usually get an extra-heavy flood near the end of the rainy season so I hope this was it.”

He said the community always tried to do some immediate cleaning in the aftermath but a lack of water hampered their efforts.

“We have no water. The water trickling so I have to wait for the bucket to full so I could come outside and wash down the yard….We does clean up because you see that dust when the mud dries, that dust not right.”

Another St Francois Valley road resident, Anton Holder, said the issue had been a long-standing one.

“For years it’s been affecting the neighbours and the community on this side. I used to hear stories from my grandmother about the road (when it rains). I could remember as a little boy playing football in the road and the water almost take me away. So this is happening for decades now.

[caption id="attachment_1041502" align="alignnone" width="1024"] St Francois Valley Road, Belmont, resident Ancil Luke shovels mud from th