On Tuesday, 16 October 2018, the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Office (TTMS) issued an Adverse Weather Alert (Yellow Level) that predicted showers and thunderstorms due to the presence of an Inter-Tropical Convergent Zone (ITCZ); the warning was in place from
Wednesday, 17 to Friday to 19 October. On Thursday, 18 October, the TTMS upgraded the alert to Orange Level, as the ITCZ continued to produce intermittent periods of rainfall and thunderstorms. Late Thursday, 18 October, the TTMS issued a Riverine Flood Alert (Red Level), as river levels exceeded threshold levels and some of them overflowed their banks. Since additional rainfall was forecasted, river levels were expected to remain elevated for the next several days.
On Friday, 19 October, the Piarco International Airport was closed for several hours, as the weather made it impossible for aircraft to land, and the surrounding roadways were flooded. That same day, the ODPM issued Public Advisory #8 at 2031 hours, which alerted the TTRCS Disaster Management system of an ongoing life-threatening operation in the Greenvale Park community of La Horquetta, where residents were stranded on their roofs due to the rapid onset of floodwaters.
On Saturday, 20 October a national newspaper described the floods as ‘catastrophic’ (Trinidad Express 20 Oct. 2018), and the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) advised that the main north-south highway was impassable;
The persistent rainfall has caused flooding in approximately 80 per cent of the country, primarily
the north, east and central parts of the island nation such as Sangre Grande, Matelot, La Horquetta, St. Helena, Caroni and Mayaro.
It was estimated that 150,000 persons were affected. As of 21st October, 800 persons were evacuated. 300 Persons were in shelters as of 21st October. As of 23rd October, 13 shelters were opened. In the following areas the number of households were affected:
1. Tunapuna 1,500 households
2. Sangre Grande 1,000 households
3. Couva /Tabaquite/Talparo 600 households
4. Mayaro/ Rio Claro 500 households
5. Chaguanas Borough 500 household
Source: https://goo.gl/2cSYzM