Pirmal said she was with her mother and sister when their grandfather fell and rushed to see if they could follow him, but he washed away quickly.
She said it took only 30 minutes of heavy rain for the water to rise quickly. Relatives and villagers went down the flooded river using flashlights.
His son Ryan eventually found him snagged on a tree with his hands wrapped around it.
Firefighters removed Minwah around 7.30 pm.
The father of six and grandfather of 16 was already dead
After clamouring and pleading with authorities to address flooding in their community, a Claxton Bay family is now mourning the loss of their patriarch Ramnath Minwah, who drowned after falling into a river late Saturday evening.
Minwah, 76, a retired marine captain, was trying to get to his home on St John’s Road as flood waters began to rise. Around 6.30 pm, he was returning home from a nephew’s house a few hundred meters away.
He walked to the side of the road as a vehicle reversed and slipped into the river as the flood water covered the road.
His granddaughter Janelle Pirmal said the flow was so strong that a resident who stood next to him tried to grab his arm, but the water washed him downstream.
Pirmal said she was with her mother and sister when their grandfather fell and rushed to see if they could follow him, but he washed away quickly.
She said it took only 30 minutes of heavy rain for the water to rise quickly. Relatives and villagers went down the flooded river using flashlights.
His son Ryan eventually found him snagged on a tree with his hands wrapped around it.
Firefighters removed Minwah around 7.30 pm.
The father of six and grandfather of 16 was already dead.
She said he was the best swimmer in the family, but he became feeble and developed lung problems as he got older.
When Guardian Media visited the home yesterday, relatives cleaned slush from their yard left by the floods. Parts of their road are already caving into the river, which has banks overgrown by trees.
“Something has to be done about this because every time it rains and floods, the road gets narrow. Soon we will not have a road to come out of here. It is ridiculous. Year after year, we are reporting this, and nothing is being done,” Pirmal said.
Minwah’s wife, Dolly, explained that the river started as a drain but expanded over the years, eating away at the road. Dolly said the community floods for the past 20-30 years. Dolly and Minwah lived there for approximately 50 years, but she said during the construction of Union Claxton Bay Secondary School, the builder diverted the watercourse near their home.
“We have been clamouring from them now, and every time the rain falls, it (bank) keeps breaking. Governments come, governments go, the MP, the councillor, they just come and watch it.”
The water entered their home, destroying carpets and other items, leading them to raise the entrance of the house. She said the authorities did not clean the river for some time.
“These things could have been avoided years ago if they had done something that we were clamouring for because three of my grandchildren fell in that river. My son fell in that river. My daughter fell in that river. Every time something happened, we reported it.”
