By Vernon Daley, Staff Reporter 
Several buildings along the Milk River road, Clarendon, including this banana-boxing plant, were flooded yesterday. This plant was under about five feet of water. - Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer
FLOOD WATERS from pounding rains associated with a low-pressure weather system which has been affecting the island since Wednesday, forced scores of families from their homes yesterday, causing them to seek refuge in Government shelters.
Also, rising waters left several roads cluttered with debris and impassable to pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and disaster relief officials warned motorists and pedestrians not to cross flooded roadways and low-lying areas because of the waters' strong currents.
The rains caused the cancellation of scores of Labour Day projects in several parishes.
St. Catherine, Clarendon and Manchester are the parishes worst affected by the flood rains. Five families were sheltered at the Thompson Pen Church, east central St. Catherine, while six families were housed at the White Marl Primary School, south central St. Catherine. They were flooded out of their homes yesterday morning.
Several houses in the Central Village community, south central St. Catherine, were also flooded out following the heavy rains. The road through the Bog Walk Gorge remained blocked up to late yesterday by the Rio Cobre, which overflowed its banks and motorists were advised not to attempt to cross the Flat Bridge.
In Clarendon, a shelter was opened at the York Town Primary School, where 20 persons are being housed.
Other areas in the parish which experienced flooding included Toll Gate, Palmers Cross, Bullards Content and Osbourne Store.
Flooding also occurred at Whitney Turn, Scotts Pass, and Harmons in Manchester, while blocked roads were reported in Luana and Middle Quarters, St. Elizabeth.
Relatively little damage was reported in Kingston and St. Andrew, but there were reports of minor flooding in the New Haven community, western St. Andrew. Also, there were land slippages in Gordon Town.
Dean Peart, Minister of Labour and Social Security, said yesterday that he had given instructions for the necessary resources to be mobilised to deal with sections of the island which have been affected by heavy rains since Wednesday.
"The instruction has been given to mobilise as much as is needed," he told reporters at a hastily-called press briefing at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, Camp Road, Kingston 4.
Mr. Peart, who has portfolio responsibility for disaster relief, said his Ministry's emergency response system and the ODPEM, had been activated to deal with the situation. This, he said, included the clearing of roads by the National Works Agency and the carrying out of rescue and emergency operations by the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the Jamaica Defence Force and the Jamaica Fire Brigade.
Relief agencies such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army had also been alerted and assessment teams would be deployed to undertake necessary investigations, he said.
"Relief items such as bedding are being dispatched by the Ministry to the shelters," the minister said. He left the press briefing for a meeting with Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to brief him on the situation.
Paul Saunders, acting director-general of the ODPEM, told the news briefing it was too early to give an assessment of the total damage that had been done by the flooding and how much it would cost the country.
"We won't get a realistic view until the rains have subsided," Mr. Saunders said. He added that such an assessment was unlikely to take place until Sunday, because the rains were expected to continue for the next two days.
A flash flood warning for low-lying areas of all parishes remained in effect at press time last night.
