A giant tree fell across the roadway, roofs were ripped off houses and several homes were flooded following a sudden downpour of heavy rainfall yesterday.

The rains, accompanied by strong winds, began around midday and continued for almost two hours.

There was a power outage in San Fernando for several hours, as electrical lines were damaged.

Councillor for San Fernando West, Gloria Calliste, said people living along the coastline in Marabella were scampering to safety when roofs began peeling off.

"It was scary, we didn't know what was happening. People were running out of their houses when the roofs started blowing off," she said.

Calliste said 14 homes were damaged by the strong winds. "The neighbours are assisting in helping the families nail back their homes. I have opened up my office to anyone who wants to stay there tonight," she said.

The roof of a house at Tarouba Road, Marabella, was also torn off and a tree fell across the San Fernando bypass.

The Express was told that there were no injuries.

There were reports of flash flooding along Mosquito Creek, La Romaine and in Cocoyea.

Fire officers said there were no reports of severe flooding in South Trinidad.

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) and officials of the San Fernando City Corporation were assisting affected residents last night.

Meteorological scientist at the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service, Sarah Sammy, told the Express yesterday that the activity was caused by a convective cell called a Cumulonimbus cloud which is a thunder cloud.

Sammy said it developed just off the coastline in Pointe-a-Pierre.

"As the cloud developed, there were downdraughts and it's the downdraughts which were intense enough to blow off people's roofs," Sammy said.

"Similar conditions are expected (today) where you will have a nice hot morning and by about lunch time we will get some increase in cloudiness and, probably, some thundery activity along the west coast.

"We have moisture over us and, as the day heats up, we have these thermals that build. So you have the air rising and because the atmosphere is moist and because the Gulf of Paria is a ready source of water vapour, you have your thunder clouds tending to build to the west."

–with reporting by Keino Swamber