Residents of Newmarket, St Elizabeth, are now living in fear after underground water began to flood the community.

The residents noticed the water last Saturday in fields close to the main road that leads from Newmarket to Westmoreland. By Sunday, it was high enough to block a section of the road, forcing the authorities to close it off. Another section of the road is now at risk of being blocked by the rising water that has been running across, into the fields nearby.

Fields of papaya and pumpkin were flooded. One woman said the rising water could flood her husband's field. "It not bothering us now, but if the water continue to rise, it going to reach to my husband's part," she said.

farm losses

No houses have been flooded by the water that is believed to have come from communities in nearby Westmoreland and Trelawny. In addition, not many farmers have incurred losses because of the rising water, but they are hoping it will recede before it gets worse.

When the news team visited the community, there were many motorists, who were making use of the water to wash their vehicles. The rising water has also inconvenienced residents, who now have to travel many miles through Kilmarnock and Payne Stone to get to the other side.

This is not the first time the community has been affected by rising waters. Crops valuing millions of dollars were destroyed by flooding caused by Hurricane Wilma in 2005.