By ALEXANDER BRUZUAL Saturday, December 20 2008

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CLEARING AWAY: A backhoe clears away parts of a landslide along the North Coast Road yesterday....

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BETWEEN Thursday and yesterday, at least 41 landslides were recorded in various parts of North Trinidad as heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding transformed solid earth into mudslides.

For approximately 19 hours, Maracas was cut-off from the rest of the country as heavy afternoon showers resulted in several landslides along the North Coast Road, making it impossible for commuters to get to their destinations.

It was reported that between the Saddle Road in Maraval and the Maracas look-out, there were 41 recorded landslides. Several trees and large quantities of dirt and rock, were strewn across a number of points along the road, and up to10.20 am yesterday, workers contracted from the Ministry of Works and Transport were feverishly working to clear the debris.

Several frustrated commuters told Newsday they were stranded on the North Coast Road since 4 pm on Thursday and were forced to spend the night in their vehicles, as backhoes slowly cleared the roadway.

“I overnighted in my car waiting on the workers to clear the road,” Alexander Lalgee said. “But I have to give the workers their credit. They responded really quickly and were there throughout the night working very hard to get this job done,” he then added.

When Newsday visited the scene, contractors were working on the last landslide which blocked access to Maracas. A large patch of trees and dirt fell across the road, blocking off approximately 120 feet of roadway.

“I have to go to work and I up since 3 am waiting on the road to clear. This is one of the worst I have ever seen, because as soon as they clear one landslide, they have to move on to the next and it feels like it have no end,” said Jeremy Lalla of Las Cuevas.

Around 11 am, the contractors finally finished clearing the debris along one lane of the road, and traffic was aloud to pass, much to the relief of all present.