“I don’t know what to think, we never had flooding so early in the season before.”
Moved to tears by the damage to her car, Woodland resident Geeta Reedhi says she was caught off guard when floodwaters rose in the wee hours of Monday.
She had spent hours the night before diligently monitoring her yard for any signs of flooding.
It was only when she finally fell asleep after midnight that the water came creeping in, half-submerging her car.
“It was very heart-breaking, I didn’t know what to think about it. I should have brought it (the car) out here before, but usually around September, we have flooding issues. So on Sunday, I thought it was a bit early for that kind of flooding,” Reedhi said.
She lives a stone’s throw away from the New Cut Channel in Woodland and has begrudgingly accepted the yearly flooding.
[caption id="attachment_1021005" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Many residents of Woodland remain marooned, as flood waters remain high on Tuesday. - ANGELO MARCELLE[/caption]
She usually parks her car on higher ground as the rainy season progresses, to save herself the heartache she now faces.
Her car remains parked by the road, the interior showing no sign of the muddy water that immobilised it. Reedhi has not been able to start it since.
Her husband’s tools, stored on the ground floor of their home, were also damaged. She said her daughter is a Form Four student and could not go to school, missing her end-of-term exams.
Reedhi is worried about what the rest of the season will bring.
“Every year is the same, but I am guessing it will be worse this year.”
Her neighbour, Haniff Ali-Bocas, answered her pleas for help to get the car to safety.
He too was on flood watch on Sunday night, before heading to bed around midnight.
“We went to sleep like normal, and is when I get up to use the toilet I realise water inside the house already.
“I wake up my wife and we start to move everything, we put up everything we could on heights and since then, we waiting for the water to go down.”
Ali-Bocas said he too has had to accept that floodwaters invading his home will be an annual occurrence.
“Twice, back-to-back in November, we get flood out.
"But what I could do? We telling them to dredge the riverbank, but they only coming with a water master, which they use to clean the garbage on the top of the water. But they need to dredge the river.
“All kinda thing (Works Minister) Rohan Sinanan doing, but I don’t know what he really doing. He setting we up bad.”
While Ali-Bocas was busy trying to pump floodwater out of his home, many of his neighbours were seen sitting on their flooded porches, looking out as the water surrounded their homes. One man was seen sipping coffee while the floodwaters swirled around him.
[caption id="attachment_1021004" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Woodland resident Haniff Ali-Bocas, on Tuesday, explains how the water started rising, flooding his and several homes in the area on Monday. PHOTO:ANGELO MARCELLE - ANGELO MARCELLE[/caption]
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