Many people were left stranded in their houses on Monday owing to the South Oropouche River and its tributaries bursting their banks and causing severe flooding.
Particularly in the south, many roads became impassable, and people suffered significant losses.
Penal, Debe, Barrackpore, Woodland and Moruga were among the hardest hit communities, and on Monday afternoon, the water was still rising.
On Monday, the TT Meteorological Service (Met Office) upgraded Sunday's yellow riverine flood alert to an orange level alert for south Trinidad. The alert is set to end on Tuesday at 5 pm.
The office anticipated more rains "over the next 24 hours," which would raise the river levels even more.
[caption id="attachment_1020854" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A TTEC amphibious vehicle, followed by a TTEC van, drives through floodwater on Penal Rock Road on Monday. - Lincoln Holder[/caption]
Like the Met Office that called on people not to take unnecessary risks in flood, the Rural Development and Local Government Ministry urged people to avoid driving through or wading through rising floodwaters for their safety.
Affected people can seek shelter at the "activated emergency shelters" at the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation (PDRC) and the Barrackpore Regional Complex.
The ministry said two other buildings—Woodland Hindu School and Esperance Regional Complex —were "on standby" for use if necessary.
At New Colonial Road in Barrackpore, only trucks were able to drive through the floodwater.
Some residents, including Haffize Mohammed and businessman Nick Boodram, used a tractor to pass through floodwater. They said they were driving around and looking for anyone who might have been stranded on the road.
Mohammed said the water was so high at several areas off Rochard Douglas Road, like Sukhan Trace, that the tractor could not pass there.
"We went to see who we could have assisted. We helped about four people who were stranded on the road."
Boodram of Nick's Poultry Depot said if they had a helicopter, they would have used it to help the affected people.
There were reports of farmers losing their chickens to the floodwater in Barrackpore. Newsday was unable to venture further into the floodwater.
PDRC chairman Dr Allen Sammy said the corporation sent 200 sandbags to people in the Barrackpore area. The corporation was also distributing sandbags "on demand" to anyone.
He added," The flood was so bad that several schools, like Suchit Trace Hindu, Debe Hindu and Ramai Trace Hindu, were closed for the day."
[caption id="attachment_1020855" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The Curamata River that runs along Suchit Trace, Debe, is at full capacity on Monday. - Lincoln Holder[/caption]
He recalled at around 2 am, members of the corporation's disaster management unit (DMU) evacuated a family at Suchit Trace. This family was relocated to the shelter in Barrackpore.
Hours later, around 11 am, the DMU members evacuated a family at Mulchan Trace, off the Penal Rock Road, Penal, and relocated them with other r
