Black Immigrant Daily News

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A 55-YEAR-OLD Arima man is thanking his nephew who risked his own life to pull him out of raging flood waters.

Two video clips, 14 and 12 seconds each, which were posted to social media, showed Derick Pollard being swept away as he desperately tried to hold on to any and everything to keep from being swallowed by an overflowing river.

At one point he is seen trying to hold on to the window of his nephew’s home but that was futile.

Without hesitation, 26-year-old Andy Manhay jumped into the water and grabbed his uncle, and with the assistance of his girlfriend and other family members, he was able to pull himself and his uncle out of the water.

Reliving the moment, Manhay said he was by his grandmother’s home across the street from his Arima Old Road home helping her pack away whatever they could to save from being washed away by the flood when he saw his uncle being washed away. This happened sometime between 2 and 3 pm on Wednesday.

“The water take him from over the road and bring him on we side, as it was gushing down. The neighbours start to bawl because we was inside lock up.

“My sister see him in the water and then my girlfriend see him in the back with his head pushing up on a tree.”

He continued: “When I was going to help him, my mother was bawling for me not to go because the water was up to my neck. I swim across and I hold on to him. The water was pushing away two ah we. Is a good thing they throw a rope for we.”

Manhay said he did not hesitate to put his life on the line for his uncle, although he himself is a new father with a two-month-old baby at home.

He said his uncle, known as “Boyie” in the community, is always helpful and he could not stand by and watch the flood take him.

“Is what family does do, look out for each other. I had to go and save him and if I didn’t do that, all now so, they would be looking for him as they are for the woman in Lopinot.

Manhay was referring to the sorry tale of Theresa Lynch who was swept away as she and her brother tried to cross the Surrey River in Lopinot on their way to their garden.

Up to Wednesday night her body was not found despite searches which were undertaken by residents, police, members of the Fire Services Search and Rescue Unit and others.

Pollard, who had to cut the interview short as an ambulance came to take him to the hospital after complaining of spitting up blood, said he was thankful his nephew was there to save him.

Manhay, an auto air-condition technician said he lost everything in the flood and is hoping to get any assistance from Good Samaritans. Manhay, an auto air-condition technician said he lost everything in the flood and is hoping to get any assistance from Good Samaritans. Anyone willing to help, can reach him at 266-3816.

He said friends came and assisted in cleaning and making a makeshift bed for his child but there is much more work to be done and more help needed not only for him and his family but the entire community.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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TOBAGO FLOODS: Drivers took a chance by going through floodwaters in Whim Village, Tobago on Wednesday. PHOTO BY DAVID REID –

NEWSDAY REPORTERS

THE TROPICAL wave, known by meteorologists as Invest #91L, brought with it thunderstorms, strong winds and lightning, as it dumped rain over both islands between Tuesday night and all of yesterday.

The end result was major flooding throughout the country as well as landslides.

While the nation was put on alert by the Met Services since early Tuesday, by way of an adverse weather yellow-alert, few could have foreseen the swiftness in which major roads and highways, as well as large swathes of land became raging torrents of flood waters.

This road in Bad Hill, Tobago was partially blocked by debris following a landslide on Wednesday. PHOTO BY DAVID REID –

The Met Office said the latest weather alert began at 12 am on Wednesday and ends at 12 pm Friday.

Information poured into our newsroom all day Wednesday citing major flooding along the East/West Corridor; in Sangre Grande, especially in Coalmine; in parts of Chaguanas especially Edingburgh 500; in Tobago; in Tunapuna;Lopinot; in Five Rivers; in San Juan; in Trincity; in Manzanilla and in many other parts of the country.

At one point around midday, there were reports from the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) of flood waters washing over the eastbound lane of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway near Orange Grove Road and Savannah Drive, rendering it impassable.

CLASSES END EARLY

Several schools including Trinity College East, St Augustine Secondary, Presentation College, Chaguanas, Northeastern College in Sangre Grande and others, were severely impacted by flooding.

The UWI St Augustine campus also ended classes early as parts of the university became inundated with water.

Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, interviewed by Newsday, said schools in affected areas have been making requests to dismiss early.

A Newsday report stated that when asked if the ministry will close schools owing to the flooding, she said, “Approval is being given upon request for schools in affected areas to close.

“Also, principals are allowing parents to collect their children from schools if required,” she added.

Nadir Khan surveys the rubbish left behind from flood waters at his home in Arima on Wednesday. PHOTO BY ANGELO MARCELLE – Angelo Marcelle

Several video images showing entire communities such as Paradise East in Tacarigua being turned into a sea of fast-moving brown water; the mangled remains of cars after they were washed away; and the Sangre Grande Hospital being flooded, were uploaded to social media and quickly went viral.

WOMAN WASHED AWAY

The flooding is also believed to have been directly responsible for the loss of at least one life, after a woman was washed away in flood waters in Lopinot, and is believed drowned.

Police said William Ramlogan and his 45-year-old sister Teresa Lynch of La Pastora Village, were on their way to tend to crops when Lynch was swept away as she tried to cross the Surrey river.

MILES OF TRAFFIC: Traffic stretches for as far as the eye can see on the eastbound lanes of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway as under rainy skies on Wednesday. PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB – ROGER JACOB

Her brother attempted a rescue but the currents quickly slammed him into rocks and he had to give up trying to reach his sister in order to save himself.

Up to 5.30 pm, villagers, police, firemen and divers were searching for Lynch, even as her brother had to be taken to hospital for treatment.

FLOOD ALERT

At 5 pm, the Met Services – in addition to the ongoing adverse weather yellow-alert – also placed Trinidad and Tobago on a riverine flood alert – yellow level warning. The riverine alert runs until Friday.

The Met Office said major watercourses in Trinidad including the North Oropouche, Caroni and South Oropouche; and in Tobago, including Crooks and Darrell springs rivers were continuing to rise. At the time of the press release, these watercourses were at 80 per cent capacity.

Search and rescue officers near the Surrey River in Lopinot as the search continued Wednesday afternoon for a woman who was swept away by raging waters. PHOTO BY SUREASH CHOLAI –

The Met Office said even as weather conditions appeared to be more settled as of late Wednesday afternoon, expected overnight showers and spring tides could conspire to bring capacity of the watercourse to maximum.

There is the potential for overspill and consequent flooding overnight and into Thursday.

The Housing Development Corporation (HDC) was also monitoring the weather and resultant flooding as it confirmed in a release that the weather had impacted its various housing developments.

The HDC said it had distributed sandbags in Oropune Gardens, Piarco where the level of the Arouca River was rising.

“We have placed and turned on pumps in strategic locations and these are being used to push excess water out,” the HDC said.

Its Disaster Management Team has been on the ground monitoring the corporation’s most high-risk communities. It added that in some areas, the volume of water had risen faster than predicted.

For those areas, the HDC will continue to monitor and provide assistance to residents as needed. HDC clean-up crews were also said to be on standby to be deployed when the need arises.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

door Terence Oosterwolde PARAMARIBO — Renzo Tjon-A-Joe heeft in Nederland het nationaal Surinaams record (NSR) op de 100 meter wisselslag

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Jamaica has been elected to the powerful 36-member International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Council for the 2022-2025 triennium.

The election took place during the ICAO’s 41st Assembly being held at the Organisation’s headquarters in Montr?al, Canada from September 27 to October 7.

Minister of Transport and Mining, Audley Shaw, who heads Jamaica’s delegation to the assembly, has described the country’s election to the council as “a pivotal one for the nation and region”.

Shaw contended that this will ensure a platform for more uniform and inclusive participation in aviation deliberations and development across all regions.

“This will be achieved through greater and more strategic representation of our special needs and circumstances, as well as the infusion of unique, dynamic and novel perspectives that can regenerate, further stabilise, and assist the growth of the aviation sector,” he said.

The minister emphasised that Jamaica sees its role as being increasingly important as the country positions itself to support the much-needed acceleration of the aviation industry’s key development and sustainability priorities.

For his part, Director General of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA), Nari Williams-Singh, indicated that the election “demonstrated Jamaica’s significant and continued contribution to the field of civil aviation”.

Additionally, he said it is indicative of “our commitment to supporting the promotion of international standards that ensure uncompromised safety, efficiency, security and environmental sustainability within the region and beyond.

“Being elected to the ICAO Council gives us the opportunity to ensure that the needs of small island developing states (SIDS) like Jamaica are heard and considered in developing aviation policy,” the director general said.

“We can continue making our positive contribution in the field of aviation, especially at a time when our industry is coming out of a very difficult period,” he added.

Jamaica’s election to Part III of the council, comprising of states ensuring geographic representation, is expected to be of strategic importance for the island, the Caribbean, other SIDS, as well as Least Developed States (LDS), globally.

The election is important, given the council’s pre-eminent role in providing guidance for the work of the ICAO as the international aviation oversight body, while assuming responsibility for standards adoption and the organisation’s other governance engagements, when the 193-member assembly is not in session.

The council, a permanent body of ICAO, which gives continuing direction to the work of the organisation, is elected by the assembly every three years. Jamaica has been an ICAO member state since 1963, and represented the English-speaking Caribbean on the council from 1977 to 1986.

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