- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - Aujourd'hui 04:09

Penal families counting losses after winds rip off roofs

Strong wind gusts caused damage to at least three houses in Penal on June 23 – a few days after several roofs were blown off of houses in other areas in Penal. Lisa Sahadeo-Singh, 37, who lives in a moderately spread one-storey wooden house built by her father over 20 years ago, on Sahadeo Avenue just off Gopie Trace was one of victims counting their losses. Her house rests on a small hill and while immune to the perennial floods which affect the area, it is at the mercy of strong gusts of wind which around 1 pm, ripped off a significant portion of the roof. Fourteen people live in the property including seven children. "I was inside the kitchen cooking when I heard what sounded like the galvanise just starting to flap. I say, 'let me walk outside eh,' and I as I walked outside, half of the house's roof just raised off and went flying in the breeze." Sahadeo-Singh said the blown-off pieces of the roof landed across the road against a neighbour's wall and in their property. When Newsday visited the area on June 24, the galvanised sheets which were on Sahadeo-Singh's house were bent and twisted by the force of the wind. As the skies opened above her, with the roof being ripped off, Sahadeo-Singh said she grabbed her two children and ran out of the house. "I've seen on the television tornadoes mashing up house, but to experience the force of the wind myself...it was very frightening and I was real scared. I thought the whole roof was going to come off and damage or fall on us." She added: "That get me real frightened because first time in my life I experienced something like this!" [caption id="attachment_1162711" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Anand Basdeo looks at a damaged roof at Sahadeo Avenue, Debe on June 24.[/caption] Sahadeo-Singh's neighbour Dhaniram Ramkissoon also recalled being on his couch when he heard the roof of his house start to give way as about six sheets of galvanise were ripped off. "I just get up and ran to the corner of the wall," he said. Sahadeo-Singh said the accompanying showers soaked a mattress, some of her furniture, her children's school bags and spoilt some small appliances including fans and a stereo set. She has since opened the school books to get them dry and said she spent the better part of Tuesday morning ironing her children's school bags in a bid to speed up the drying. With periodic, intense showers forecast, both Gopie Trace households quickly gathered up the strewn pieces of roofing, straightened out the sheets and repaired their roofs. At Laltoo Trace, Amina Boodoo, 73, was assessing the damage left after parts of her roof was blown away by the gusts. She said she lost a few sheets of galvanise on her house while sheets were ripped also ripped off from an adjoining structure which houses Boodoo's daughter and adult grandchildren. Boodoo said her son and grandson quickly came to her aid and helped reattach the sheets to the house while tarpaulin was used to cover exposed portions of the roof on the adjoining structure. While the Met Office issued a yellow-level high wind alert on June 23 and maintained this warning in a forecast on the morning of June 24, the weather is expected to improve by June 25. Sahadeo-Singh said she is worried if her repaired roof would stand up to further wind gusts. Her father, Kunjbeharry Basdeo, 58, appealed for assistance to construct a stronger roof. He is asking for building materials saying his family would organise the labour part to repair or replace the roof. Sahadeo-Singh said any Good Samaritan willing to help can contact her at 276-7636. Penal Debe Regional Corporation chairman Gowtam Maharaj said officials from corporation visited the affected families on June 24 to assess what assistance can be provided. He said the families were also referred to the Ministry of the People, Social Development and Family Services. Officials from the corporation's disaster management unit (DMU) visited Boodoo and distributed a mattress, bottles of water and a hamper. Sahadeo-Singh also confirmed that the DMU officials had also visited her. Two weeks ago, several low-lying areas in Penal were temporarily inundated by flash flooding particularly in parts of Rock Road, Clarke Road and Clarke Rochard Road.   The post Penal families counting losses after winds rip off roofs appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.