Widespread: Lower Henry Street leading onto South Quay, left, was covered in water, making it impassable to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic following yesterday’s heavy rains in downtown Port of Spain.
© JERMAINE CRUICKSHANKWidespread: Lower Henry Street leading onto South Quay, left, was covered in water, making it impassable to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic following yesterday’s heavy rains in downtown Port of Spain.
For the second consecutive day, parts of Trinidad recorded more than an average April month's rainfall in a few hours. The torrential rain triggered street and flash floods across parts of central, north-central, and northwestern Trinidad during the afternoon on Monday.

Which areas were affected?

As thunderstorms and heavy rainfall swept across Trinidad, flooding was first reported in Claxton Bay, along the Southern Main Road. As rain moved north, floods quickly began in Port-of-Spain along the typical flood-prone areas. Flooding occurred along Richmond, Edward, St Vincent, Charlotte, Park, Pembroke, Abercromby Streets, and Independence Square North and South. City Gate at South Quay in Port-of-Spain temporarily became impassable. Only one of the four eastbound lanes on St Joseph Road, exiting Port-of-Spain, was passable early Monday afternoon due to flooding.



Further north and west, street flooding occurred along Chancery Lane, Wrightson Road, Ariapita Avenue, Warren Street, and Mucurapo Road, where waters reached approximately two feet. Floodwaters also entered several businesses in northwestern Trinidad, including Massy Stores in St Ann's.

Traffic became increasingly congested heading west as flooding occurred along the Western Main Road at Carenage and Cocorite, affecting east and westbound lanes.


Further east, as another round of thunderstorms formed later on Monday afternoon, flooding occurred along the Eastern Main Road in Tunapuna. Several vehicles stalled in Maloney, where motorists ventured into floodwaters approximately between one and three feet.

This second round of thunderstorms also affected flights at the Piarco International Airport, where visibility dropped below one kilometre from 2.23 pm, dipping as low as 500 metres at 3 pm. This drop in visibility caused BW1517, a Caribbean Airlines flight from Tobago, to circle the airport, forcing it to return to Crown Point to refuel before finally landing in Trinidad hours after its scheduled arrival.