Families evacuated, villages marooned after landslides in Tobago

2934506

Scores of villagers who live close to the North Side Road in Tobago were cut off on Monday after persistent and heavy rainfall resulted in a major landslide.

Just before 5 am on Monday the landslide occurred and left the villagers separated from the rest of the island.

The roadway was eventually cleared after 1 pm yesterday.

According to the Tobago Emergency Management Agency – TEMA – two families also had to be evacuated from their Parlutuvier homes following landslides that threatened their lives and properties.

TEMA director Allan Stewart said there have been over 100 landslides in Tobago since last month, ten over this past weekend alone.

Stewart reminded anyone approaching landslides to be wary.

He said they should not try to remove them without expert advice.

The TEMA director gave the reminder as debris in the Mt Dillon, North Side Road landslide, had live electrical wires running through it.

He said the debris, which completely blocked the North Side Road in Mt Dillon, cutting off the villages of Castara, Parlatuvier, and L’ Anse Fourmi posed a challenge even for the TEMA crew as they could have been electrocuted.

“What compounded this situation grossly is that to effect a very safe removal of the debris, which comprised of a huge amount of slit and a huge amount of trees and electricity lines… the lines were live and had to be isolated by TTEC.”

He said to isolate the power lines, the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission had to go around the island to Hermitage village through Charlotteville.

He said smaller landslides may be safer, however, “Removing landslides require a certain amount of patience for those that are affected. They must understand that even as you attempted to clear the landslide, there are certain observations that you must take into consideration. ”

Meanwhile, Stewart said two families on Parrot Hill, Parlatuvier, had to be removed from the homes on Friday as a landslide made their homes unsafe.

He said two different arms of the Tobago House of Assembly-Division of Health, Wellness and Family Development and the Division of Infrastructure, Quarries and the Environment are looking into the families’ situation.