MONEAGUE, St Ann – Residents of Moneague and surrounding communities are wary, as the water in the Moneague lake started rising again recently, sparking fears that the area may again become inundated as it did two years ago.

“The panic button is on but the people are adopting a wait-and-see stance,” councillor for the Moneague division, Lloyd Garrick, told the Observer.

Two years ago, the water covered several houses and sections of the main road leading from Moneague to areas such as Swamp, Rio Hoe, Foreman’s Hill, River Head and Clapham, forcing traffic to seek alternate routes.

In the interim, boat operators introduced boat rides to accommodate residents who were living immediately on the other side of the lake, for whom a rerouting via taxi would have been grossly inconvenient.

This time around the residents are hoping for better.

“We are hoping that what we’re seeing, especially in Swamp, Moneague and Foreman’s Hall areas, is as a result of the rain we’ve been having over the last two months,” Garrick said.

“My own judgement is that the water is not rising as fast as it did two years ago, as we would have seen houses being affected already,” he added.

Meanwhile, one resident of the South East St Ann town, said he was not unduly worried about the rising waters this time around, having experienced the floods two years ago.

“Wi sort a used to it, so it nah go really badda wi. Is just that some people haffi go travel longer distance fi reach home,” he said.

During the early part of last year, the rising waters drew national attention, becoming a tourist attraction and pulling vendors from as far away as Spanish Town to sell their wares to visitors to the area.