00:00The whole family was sleeping and we just heard a big noise, a big crash. It's a landslide from the
00:07back of the house, come down on the house itself and end up in the kitchen area, a landslide.
00:17Six members of the Dalrymple family were jolted awake at around 5.30 Sunday morning as a landslide crashed into
00:25the rear of their home, destroying the kitchen and sending mud and water rushing inside.
00:31By daylight, the family was cleaning up the damage while trying to salvage what they could.
00:37Representatives from the Tobago Emergency Management Agency and area representative Orlando Kerr visited the property to assess the situation and
00:47offer assistance.
00:49Yes, Tima was here and Mr Kerr. And right now we are trying to avoid water because the lawn is
00:57landslide with plenty of water.
00:59But we are trying to avoid the water by, you know, trying to take up the water.
01:06Kerr said immediate efforts are now focused on stabilizing the hillside to prevent any further movement that could threaten the
01:15home.
01:15What we need to do sort of immediately is to remove the landslide from where it is so that if
01:23rain continues to fall, water doesn't continue to go into the house.
01:27I have since contacted the guy responsible for URP on this end and a team from URP will be dispatched
01:35tomorrow morning to remove the landslide and to create some kind of drainage so that the water does not continue
01:44to come into the house.
01:44He also confirmed that emergency food supplies have been arranged for the displaced family as support agencies continue to assess
01:54their immediate needs.
01:56I have also organized foodstuff for the family.
02:01They will be getting a voucher to get some foodstuff in conjunction to what Tima it will be giving to
02:08them.
02:08I know that Tima has already visited and their protocols will have already kicked in.
02:14But as the area rep and someone who's on the ground here with them, I felt that I needed to
02:18go and, you know, assist as best as I can.
02:21And so that we are putting things in place to assist them as quickly as we can so that they,
02:27you know, we know that they are a little bit uncomfortable with the situation.
02:30But we are trying our best to have it resolved as quickly as we can.
02:33Heavy rainfall also brought down trees and caused minor flooding in several parts of Tobago.
02:39Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
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