Flood rescues swamp Fire Service

The Barbados Fire Service was overwhelmed with distress calls on Sunday as rising floodwaters trapped scores of residents in their homes and vehicles across several rural districts.

Chief Fire Officer Errol Maynard told Barbados TODAY that firefighters were dispatched to multiple rescues as torrential rain caused sudden, dangerous flooding in parts of the island.

“What I can tell you is that we had a significant number of calls — people trapped in vehicles, people trapped in their houses because of flooding,” he said. “But the numbers on that, I can’t give you at present.”

He said crews have so far spent much of Monday assessing the extent of the damage and reviewing the volume of emergency calls that came in overnight.

The Fire Service is expected to provide a full update once its assessment of the operations is complete.