In the aftermath of the bad weather on Thursday night, hundreds of people were left without power, homes were damaged and landslides made major roads impassable.
The strong winds and heavy rainook the country by surprise, as many were awakened by loud crashes, howling winds and in some areas the loss of electricity just after midnight.
Before sunrise on Friday, TT Weather Centre had already reported over 50 landslides, fallen trees and poles pulling down electrical wires, blown-off roofs and loss of electricity across the country.
However, there were a few people on social media who said they slept comfortably and were unaware of the chaos.
Fortunately, there was no reported loss of life or livestock.
The Met Office issued an adverse weather alert on Thursday night until Friday at 4 pm. This alert was later extended to 6 pm and then to 8 pm on Saturday.
Senior disaster management co-ordinator at the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government, Jerry David said corporations across the country reported a total of 339 blown-off roofs and 99 fallen trees.
Just after 2 am, La Horquetta residents reported a sparking transformer and electricity lines as winds strengthened.
There were fallen trees on the Eastern Main Road between Sangre Grande and Valencia. Galvanise sheets were wrapped between overhead utility lines at Phoenix Park, Claxton Bay. Cleaver Road, Arima became impassable after a large tree completely blocked the way.
Chairman of the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation Kwasi Robinson told Newsday reports came in as early as 3 am of damaged roofs and fallen trees. Up to 3 pm the corporation had received 60 reports. He said most of the debris along the road had been cleared.
The strong winds damaged a KFC billboard and a large tree took down a streetlight at Crystal Stream junction, along the Diego Martin Highway.
Newsday visited Diamond Vale resident Randell Dunmore of Onyx Drive after a fallen tree damaged his roof.
He said, “I thought it was thunder at first, but it sounded too loud. When I checked, I saw the tree from Diego Martin Central schoolyard crash on my roof. I’m just glad it didn’t wake up my mother, she would have panicked.”
Chairman of the Diego Martin Regional Corporation Sigler Jack told Newsday his team was prepared to deal with all incidents caused by bad weather, and limited resources were the only issue.
At Atlantic Plaza, Point Lisas, a billboard was damaged by the winds. Pieces of galvanise from the Carapichaima East Secondary School roof were ripped off.
There were reports of 35 damaged roofs between Matura and Matelot and 66 damaged homes in the Couva, Tabaquite and Talparo areas.
In Tobago, by 2.30 pm there were 30 reports of landslides and fallen trees and poles, along with damaged roofs, from the Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA). Several villages on the island experienced power outages for up to five hours. Many others on the island reported phone a
