A twister wreaked havoc in Mucurapo yesterday, blowing off roofs and leaving residents fearful in its aftermath.

Only last Sunday a twister caused consternation among residents in East and Central Central, but did not touch down or cause damage.

Yesterday however, eyewitnesses told the Express that around 2 p.m. the rain started falling very heavily while lightning flashed and thunder roared. A few minutes later, a resident said she heard a roaring sound like the ocean was nearby and when she looked out her window, there was debris and galvanised iron sheets in the air.

’I was sleeping when I heard the noise, it was loud and intense, it woke me up. I thought it was just the rain, so I got up to close the windows but I couldn’t even do that. The wind was too strong. I didn’t have the strength to close them shut. When I looked outside I saw the roof of Motor Critic being peeled off, it then went in the air and some galvanise flew into the glass building opposite and break the glass. Other pieces were flying all over the place,’ Jhanez Charles told the Express last night.

’This is the first time in my life I ever saw something like this with my own eyes. It was not nice at all,’ she added.

Charles said that the galvanised iron sheets also ripped through electrical wires, causing small fires and a major power outage.

’Wires fell on the house and sparked. Our house almost caught fire,’ said Charles.

Up to press time last night, T&TEC was in the area trying to restore power.

Charles said her neighbour’s roof was peeled off and part of it flew into their yard, tearing down the wires.

Businesses in the area such as Motor Critic and Caribbean Research Ltd were affected. Part of the roof of Motor Critic was blown away and flying objects and debris crashed into the Caribbean Research building.

Joanne Mendoza’s property was also damaged. The ferocity of the twister also toppled a huge billboard at the back of her house. Her entire back wall was crushed as the billboard fell flat in the back yard.

Residents said they were still in shock over what happened but were thankful that no lives were lost.

The torrential early afternoon showers also caused severe flooding in Barataria as the water levels rose as high as three feet at the roundabout near Maritime Centre and the normally busy traffic lights on the Priority Bus Route near Toyota’s showroom.

For over an hour after 2 p.m., traffic was stalled on the Bus Route near the gas station on Fifth Street in Barataria after the nearby river burst its banks.

One commuter was trapped in a bus shed near the traffic lights by the rapidly rising waters. He was eventually rescued by a passing Defence Force truck, which was one of the few vehicles high enough to pass through the swirling, treacherous muddy water that spewed from the river.

Maxi-taxis which could not risk the knee-high water on the Bus Route ventured onto traffic-filled Fifth Street, where they had to make their way carefully across the flooded Maritime Roundabout.

There, a car lay abandoned, stalled in the muddy water, its driver nowhere in sight.

-with reporting by Albert Charles