What Happened In Piparo?

 

 Just after 10 pm on Saturday 21st September  2019, the residents of Piparo Village reported hearing a loud explosion and cracks developed along Pancho trace, a road in close proximity to the mud volcano. Damages were caused to some homes and there was a smell of sulphur in the air. Some residents chose to self-evacuate for fear of a repeat of the last major eruption that occured some 22 years ago on 22 February, 1997.

Damages to a home

    

Damage to a road near the volcano

    The Piparo mud volcano is located at 20P 681164.40 m E, 1143356.89 m N in Piparo Village. This small community of 1249 residents lies just south of the Central Range and due to its location is administered in one part by the Princes Town Regional Corporation and the other part by the Couva, Talparo, Tabaquite Regional Corporation.

    On 22nd February, 1997 after a series of tremors and rumbling that gave precious little warning of the devastating eruption to come, the residents were able to flee at the last minute before magmatic mud flooded their homes from floor to ceiling.

    Mud was spewed about 200 feet into the air causing widespread damage to property. 31 families were displaced by the eruption. 15 cars, 4 pick-up vans, some 15 cattle, 13 goats and scores of poultry and pets were buried. 

    The early morning eruption sent residents screaming and scampering in panic from the tumbling grey mud which pulled down electricity poles, telephone wires, ripped apart pipe lines and knocked down huge trees. A nearby temple, Aum Kar Hindu Temple, and convicted murderer Dole Chadee’s temple were cracked in several places. 

    Tombstones in the Piparo Cemetery tilted and fissures erupted along the road for more than a mile. The eruption rocked areas for miles around. Damage was estimated at millions of TT Dollars. More than 300 people within a one-mile radius of the volcano had to be evacuated. Thankfully, no one was killed.

    Since that initial eruption, there was subsequent activity on the 2nd March, 1997 and December 2011. After the occurrence on 21st September 2019, the ODPM in collaboration with the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government, the Ministry of National Security, the Environmental Management Agency, the Geological Society of Trinidad and Tobago, the Piparo Village Council and Mr Xavier Moonan of Touchstone Exploration developed an evacuation plan for the residents of Piparo Village.

    Mr Moonan advised that the mud volcano is a natural phenomenon and much of the activity is hidden under the surface. Furthermore, he emphasised that the village lies on the top of the volcano and therefore it should be continuously monitored.

Light mag. 4.9 earthquake - Windward Islands, Trinidad & Tobago on Sunday, 4 October 2020

    On Sunday 04 October, 2020 at 3:15 pm a 4.9 magnitude earthquake jolted parts of Trinidad and Tobago with the effects being felt also in the Windward Islands. No serious damages were reported. The quake occurred at a depth of 56 km with its epicentre at approximately 32 km from Trinidad's north coast and 89 km from Crown Point, Tobago.

    Citizens as far as south as Rio Claro experienced the shaking. Descriptions varied from a small rocking that lasted for 2 to 5 seconds to a strong shaking lasting about 15 seconds.

    The earthquake's epicentre was within zone 4 of 8 earthquake zones around Trinidad and Tobago. In this zone, according to Trinidad and Tobago Weather Centre, earthquakes are associated with the subducting slab of the South American Plate, resulting in a deeper event of depths between 40-55 km, but it can be deeper. Quakes in this area can also be associated with the North Coast Fault System, which runs just offshore the Northern Coast of Trinidad, where events are usually less than 40 km in depth. This area typically produces light (M4.0-4.9) or moderate (M5.0-5.9) magnitude earthquakes. Earthquakes in this zone tend to produce less aftershocks than earthquakes elsewhere across Trinidad and Tobago.

Mini tornado destroys home at Chase Village

On Wednesday 14th October 2020, amid a heavy thunderstorm, a funnel cloud formed around Chase Village causing what persons described as a "mini tornado" that destroyed the roof of a home a Ragoonanan Trace. Fortunately, the family that occupied the home was able to escape to safety as the heavy rain poured in and continued to batter the home.

Other homes suffered minor damage from flying debris. After the phenomenon, the Couva/ Talparo/ Tabaquite Regional Corporation stepped in to provide immediate relief items for the family of 6 and the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services has offered disaster assistance funding to facilitate the necessary repairs to the home.

Early Warning

 

Early Warning For Disasters

 

     Twin Tropical Cyclones                     Piparo Mud Volcano

     Kick em Jenny                                        Floods

Bush Fires

It is  a known fact that disasters cost lives and livelihoods. However, one way of reducing the impact disasters, especially for those who reside in disaster prone areas is to have a system of early warning.

Early warning can be described as a combination of tools and processes embedded within institutions and coordinated national, regional or international agencies.

Early warning focusses on four main areas:


1. Knowledge of the risk,

2. Technical monitoring and warning service,

3. Dissemination of meaningful warnings to vulnerable people, and

4. Public awareness and preparedness to act.

Warning services are central to the early warning system and are expected to be always available and reliable.

Early warning systems improve a society's resilience to disasters by:

a. reducing loss of life

b. providing early notification of a hazzard that could lead to a disaster

c. allows orderly disruption of social and economic facilities

d. improves traffic control and,

e. reduces stress on the general population




Early Warning Systems in Trinidad and Tobago

River data collection systems

      The Water and Sewerage Authority has a data collection system comprises a monitoring network of gauges which measures and reports rainfall, streamflow, groundwater, evaporation and water quality parameters at strategically located sites throughout Trinidad and Tobago. This information is provided to the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) and the Trinidad & Tobago Meteorological Service (MET Office) especially during times of heavy, prolonged rainfall so that early warning can be communicated on rising river levels that could lead to flooding.

Satellite tracking of weather systems, seasonal climate outlook and weather forecasting

The MET office provides real time satellite monitoring of weather systems and issues public bulletins mostly via electronic media. Its disseminates information via its web page, printed media, social media and electronic media on the sea state and provides daily weather forecasts for Trinidad and Tobago and the Lesser Antilles. 

Additionally, technology allows for a number of smart phone applications to provide accurate weather monitoring and forecasting services from trusted sources such as AccuWeather, The Weather Channel, NOOA Weather and TT Met Office.


Tsunami Warning System

The TT Met Office acting on advice from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, is in charge of issuing tsunami messages. When these messages are received, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) coordinates relevant stakeholder agencies to produce an appropriate response to the tsunami hazard. This is considered to be the most safety critical of all warning mechanisms as it must rapidly disseminate any occurrence of undersea activity that is likely to produce a tsunami.

The Top 3 Worst Weather Systems To Affect Trinidad and Tobago

The Top 3 Worst Weather Systems To Affect Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago lie at the southern edge of the hurricane belt. This has placed the county in the category of least likely to receive a direct hit by a hurricane as compared to the rest of the over 700 Caribbean Islands. However history has not spared this twin-island republic from the destructive forces Tropical Storms and Hurricanes.

These are the top 3 that affected Trinidad and Tobago in recorded history:

1. 1933 Hurricane

                    

The first hurricane of 1933 was observed as a tropical wave on 23 June. The next day, a ship in the region, Steamship Texas City observed a closed circulation suggesting that the tropical wave was then a tropical depression about 2090 km east of Trinidad. By 27 June, the system attained Category 1 hurricane status about 280 km east of Trinidad and at 5 pm local time made landfall on the south of the island.

With winds of about 137 km/h the hurricane carved a path of destruction killing at least 35 persons, some of whom drowned after their boats sank. Property loses were staggering. Around 300 houses in one village were destroyed leaving about 1000 homeless. One man was seriously injured when a tree fell and struck the car he occupied.

The landscape of south Trinidad was disrupted as many trees and power lines were felled and roads blocked. Heavy damage was reported in the cocoa industry and severe damage was reported on oil derricks and pipelines. Cedros was most significantly affected and was first to receive medical assistance and relief supplies that arrived via boat. Loses were estimated to be over 58 million dollars by today's standards.

2. Hurricane Flora - 1963

Flora is one of the most deadliest Atlantic Hurricanes in recorded history. Total casualties were amounted to 7193 and property losses were no less than 6.5 billion US dollars by today's standards.

Flora struck Tobago at 1.45 pm on Monday 30th September, 1963 with Category 2 hurricane strength that carried maximum sustained winds at 167 km/h and gusts up to 205 km/h. This coupled with very late forewarning contributed to 18 persons being killed in Tobago, 2 in Trinidad and property loses amounting to no less that US$255 million.

The impact to Tobago was devastating. There was severe impact to agriculture and most of the forest trees were destroyed. Six ships were sunk and the heavy rainfall triggered a massive landslide from Mount Dillon into Castara. Doctors, nurses, police and the military were dispatched especially to the inaccessible areas with relief supplies and to render medical assistance. Nearly 83% of homes on the island were either destroyed or damaged. The impact was so great that it led to a shift in the island's main economic activity from agriculture to tourism. Additionally, the Main Ridge Forest Reserve took over twenty-five years to recover and regain its previous growth. Five days after the impact, a hurricane relief ship, HMS Tartar, arrived at the island.

In Trinidad nine boats were destroyed, eight were damaged and others were intentionally sunk due to irreparable damage. Additionally, several large vessels sustained damage and resulted in them being intentionally sunk. One boat was also lost at the Yacht Club, located midway between Port of Spain and Chaguaramas. Damage across the island was minimal, amounting to US$ 850 000.00, with two recorded deaths

3. Tropical Storm Alma - 1974

Tropical Storm Alma made landfall across the island of Trinidad around 8 am on Wednesday 14 August 1974. It was the first named storm of the 1974 Atlantic Hurricane Season that carried sustained winds of 56 km/h and maximum gust of 147 km/h.

Alma left heavy damage in Trinidad, amounting to about US$28 million in today's value, making it the most destructive cyclone of the 20th century on the island at that time. Alma damaged about 5,000 buildings, leaving 500 people homeless. The storm also wrecked 7,180 ha of crop fields. There were two deaths in Trinidad, including one person who was struck by flying debris. 500 persons were rendered homeless after the passage of the storm.

Widespread damages were incurred to the agricultural sector, the strong gusts downed trees and power lines and major road infrastructure was damaged. Relief work commenced after the storm and was coordinated by the National Emergency Relief Organization of Trinidad and Tobago, which was established following the devastation left by Hurricane Flora in 1963. This helped rebuild damage houses, clear roads, and assist affected farmers.