A trough across Jamaica and the western Caribbean continued to dump heavy rain on the island yesterday resulting in flooding in some communities and making vehicular commute difficult on a number of roads.

The severe weather condition resulted in the Meteorological Service extending a flash flood warning for low-lying and flood-prone areas of all parishes until 5:00 am today.

The Met Service also forecast that scattered showers and thunderstorms, which could be heavy at times, would continue affecting sections of most parishes last night, with a gradual reduction in rainfall activity expected today into tomorrow.

The weather forecasters cautioned residents in low-lying areas to be on the alert for rising waters and should be ready to move quickly to higher ground.

In Little London, Westmoreland, seven people, including four children, were evacuated from their homes and taken to the Eldin Washington Early Childhood Institute in the community, Hilma Tate, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) parish coordinator, told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

She added that the up to late yesterday the water on a section of Bay Road in Little London was waist-high.

Tate also reported that several roads in some Westmoreland communities, including Three Miles River, Grange Hill, Petersfield, and Galloway, had experienced flooding. However, by late evening the floodwaters, in most cases, had receded.

Westmoreland, like the other parishes in the western part of the island, has been experiencing persistent rainfall since early Saturday.

Janel Ricketts, National Works Agency (NWA) community relations officer for the western region, told the Observer yesterday “that the damage caused by the unstable weather conditions across western Jamaica appeared to be minimal.

She noted that there was a fallen tree in the vicinity of the Mosquito Cove bridge in Hanover, as well as flooding in the Ramble area of that parish and some roads in Westmoreland.

Ricketts also said that there were reports of landslides in the Trelawny communities of Wait-a-Bit, Allsides, and Wire Fence.

There were no reports of flooding in the parish of St James.

Meanwhile, the NWA’s head office in Kingston said that it has been responding to rain-related issues in St Andrew, St Thomas, St Elizabeth, Hanover, Trelawny, and Westmoreland as the showers have impacted several roads.

A news release from the agency reported its Communication and Customer Services Manager Stephen Shaw as saying that some progress was made yesterday in removing landslides and washed down silt from affected corridors; however, more work is needed as the heavy rain has stymied the efforts.

“In St Andrew, landslides have been impacting the road through the Mavis Bank community. The Bull Bay main road, which was earlier today (yesterday) being affected by a heavy deposit of silt has been cleared. Landslides are also impacting sections of Gordon Town Road, the stretch from Stony Hill to Toms River, as well as the Rock Hall and Mount Pleasant communities. Roads through these areas are passable, however caution is being advised,” the NWA said.

Shaw said that additional heavy equipment had been dispatched to the main road from Papine to Hardwar Gap, which was blocked at sections.

In St Thomas, flooding impacted the roads through Poorman’s Corner, Hordley Crossing, Bowden, Leith Hall, Elshamar, and Port Morant, the NWA said, adding that a fallen tree was affecting vehicular commute along the Trinityville main road.

The agency said it deployed heavy equipment to clear a large deposit of silt from the corridor leading from Bull Bay to Grant’s Pen and reported that the road from Windsor Forest to Mahogany Vale was badly scoured, making vehicular commute difficult.