Heavy rains have cut the only road access to Liberia's main airport, leaving travellers to cross some sections by canoe, passengers told AFP on Friday.

At certain points the sole road between the capital Monrovia and Roberts International Airport is 1.5 metres (five feet) underwater.

Passenger Amara Kamara, 36, said the downpours, which began on June 29, had left him stranded.

"I am supposed to catch a flight to go to Ivory Coast, and here I am in front of a river," he said.

"The boys who want me to cross on canoe have asked me to take off my clothes first because I could fall in the water."

Another traveller, James Cooper, 37, made part of the journey back from the airport in a canoe with the help of a group of local men.

"The car had to leave us on the other side of the water," said.

Homes in the area have also been flooded, forcing residents to leave their possessions behind and sleep out in the open.

"We were sleeping in the middle of the night when water started to enter the house. Before we got out the water reached over our knees," said Cooper Doozen, resident of a town that sits along the route.

"We had to leave everything to save our lives. We are left with nothing. No food, no clothes," Doozen said.

In another village five miles from the airport, inhabitants have built shelters on makeshift scaffolding.

"The water is everywhere. Those who cannot swim are confined there," local official Al Banyou told AFP.