Fam­i­lies across Madras, St He­le­na, Ca­roni, and St Au­gus­tine are strug­gling to re­cov­er af­ter in­tense rain­fall trig­gered se­vere flood­ing that en­gulfed homes in up to four feet of wa­ter.

Caught off guard so ear­ly in the rainy sea­son, res­i­dents now face the task of clear­ing out wa­ter­logged fur­ni­ture, ru­ined ap­pli­ances, and school sup­plies—many of which were still be­ing paid for.

As flood­wa­ters slow­ly re­cede, dam­aged ap­pli­ances, wa­ter­logged school sup­plies, and de­stroyed per­son­al be­long­ings now line the streets in sev­er­al com­mu­ni­ties, and res­i­dents be­gin the slow, painful process of clean­ing up.