AMIDST orange-level riverine and flood alerts, the government says public servants, once able, are to return to work to avoid any further unnecessary loss of productivity.
Many entire communities are without water, owing to clogged water treatment facilities, while others are without electricity, primarily caused by fallen power lines.
All schools have been ordered closed on Monday.
Faris Al-Rawi, Minister of Rural Development and Local Government, said clean-up operations will follow immediately after flooding subsides, while everyday government services must continue, requiring a full workforce.
Al-Rawi, along with Minister of Communications Symon de Nobriga, Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales and Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan held a media conference on Sunday evening, during which they addressed the mass reports of flooding, damaged and collapsed roads, fallen trees, and other emergencies, causing safety and mobility issues around the country after three successive days of heavy rain.
The TT Meteorological Service had at that point issued separate orange level riverine and flood alerts.
Poor weather hasn't yet hampered air travel, however, with the Airports Authority announcing that operations will continue as normal on Monday.
At Sunday's news conference, Al-Rawi sought to reassure the public about ability of the State to respond adequately to the vast number of reports.
"The resourcing was done prior to these events," Al-Rawi said.
These resources, he said were budgeted for and obtained his ministry's 14 Disaster Management Units (DMU).
"We catered to these things during the preparation for the budget. We purchased, we stocked. I personally visited a number of the Disaster Management Unit (DMU) coordination points."
He said sandbags, mattresses, dinghies and other items have been provided for relief in Tunapuna, for example.
A vast number of State agencies and personnel have been deployed throughout the weekend, he said, to deal with emergency situations, like the collapse of homes and relocation of people to shelters, numbering over 30, so far.
"What we do is we cluster our assets. So WASA's assets, T&TEC's assets, (TT Defence Force) Engineering Batallion, municipal police, the regional corporation, the Ministry of Works and Transport and the volunteers (are all working together)," he said, adding that the Ministry of Social Development is available to provide various forms of relief.
Al-Rawi relayed the vast number of reported incidents of landslides and street flooding issued earlier by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM), as well as the rivers which have overflowed or threatened to overflow.
As at the time of the media conference, there were some 61 significant floods reported, 39 of which had started to subside.
A further 106 landslips/landslides have occurred, 41 of which Al-Rawi said have been "attended to," and 31 fallen trees. He said 28 were cleared.
At 8.45 am, the Caroni River at its El Carmen River station was at full capa
