Heavy rains kill two, cause widespread damage in Trinidad

Trinidad, Aug 11, CMC – Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar Saturday declared west Trinidad a disaster zone as heavy rains occasioned by the passage of a tropical depression killed two people and caused widespread damage across the country.



Persad Bissessar flanked by her Cabinet ministers toured the devastated western areas of Diego Martin, Carenage, Glencoe as well as Maraval as the rains swept across the island from late Friday night, causing landslides and damaging roads and being blamed for an electrical blackout in some areas.



Mobile phone users in the west were also affected as the waters flooded the buildings of the Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) and parts of the western highway were closed to vehicular traffic as the nearby rivers burst their banks resulting in water gushing into various homes, washing away vehicles and anything else in its path.



Disaster officials confirmed that 25-year old Everald Bentham was killed when a landslide demolished his home in La Puelta, west of here and the Minister of the People, Dr Glen Ramadasingh, confirmed the other fatality, but gave no details.