Farmers in Aranguez and El Socorro South are counting their losses after severe flooding wiped out acres of crops.
Bobby Ramlogan, a farmer who inherited both the trade and agricultural land from his father, has begun to count his losses, saying there’s no hope of planting again until the 2026 dry season.
“It’s one of the worst, yeah. We accustomed once rain fall heavy. You see, the gate and thing need fixing, the sluice gate and them need fixing. It not fixed and the water keep coming in. As a result of that, that’s why we’re getting flood. Thousands of dollars boy, thousand of dollars I lose in that.”
He told TTT News it isn’t just water – it’s his harvest of tomatoes and watermelon for 2025.
“I lose watermelon, it had like four acres of watermelon and we have an acre of tomatoes reaping right now.”
As the floodwaters rose on Sunday, a bridge collapsed, which Mr. Ramlogan explained was not mainly from the flooding but from years of neglect. He fears that over a dozen farmers could be permanently cut off from their land.
“The bridge break down a little while ago. Because the beam that was holding the bridge was rotten. So, the bridge went down. So, basically, nothing heavy could pass on the bridge. So, the farmers at back there, they might get cut off from their garden.”
He said the floodgates which were meant to protect failed. The water came in and never left.
“Part of the gate rotten. It have three gates down there, but one gate leaking and the other one rotten out clean. So, water comes down from the river there, coming through the gate, and spread out on the back of the land also.”
With many other farmers in Aranguez and El Socorro affected, Mr. Ramlogan said the impact could mean a spike in food prices.
“Plenty goods, plenty of land flood out so, prices will go up with produce and thing.”