Trinidad & Tobago: Storm watch lifted as Tropical Storm Bret abates

Officials assessing damage

Tropical Storm Bret was expected to dump heavy rain over Trinidad & Tobago and the southeastern Caribbean late Monday as it moved west across the region, forecasters said.

According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 65 kph (40 mph) with higher gusts.

Trinidad has closed all public schools, while Tobago has shuttered all schools and government offices. The storm prompted Trinidad & Tobago-based Caribbean Airlines and Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT) to cancel many flights on Monday.

Updates

Latest updates indicate that the Tropical Storm Warning was discontinued for Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada and its dependencies.
Officials in Trinidad & Tobago are currently assessing the extent of the damage done by the system which produced strong winds and heavy rainfall through most of the night.

Flash floods were reported in low lying areas, and there were power outages across many parts of the twin-island nation as a result of fallen utility poles.
Winds took down trees and blocked several roads. However, the utilities were maintained in most places with people reporting that they never lost electricity, water supply, or cell phone coverage.

The worst of the weather was gone by 03:00 EDT.
At 05:00 Trinidad & Tobago’s meteorological services reported that the system was 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of Trinidad, and tracking over the north east coast of Venezuela.

However, Trinidad & Tobago will continue to see showers and thundershowers through the day.

Bret was moving toward the west-northwest near 48 kph (30 mph) and was expected to continue at a slightly slower speed over the next 2 days.

Source: Associated Press; Trinidad Express