The Fijian Government has renewed warnings about flooding danger in low-lying areas of the main island of Viti Levu following a devastating cyclone that made landfall at the weekend.
Cyclone Winston was a category 5 storm when it hit Fiji on Saturday leaving a trail of destruction, particularly in the northern outlying islands.
Water, power and communication outages were expected to continue for several days. Flooding in coastal areas was not forecast to subside for 2 to 3 days. Many people also remained in emergency shelters.
The government on Tuesday posted that a flood alert remained in force at the Navolau Station and the area downstream along the Upper Rewa River and at the Rewa Bridge station and low-lying areas adjacent to Nausori town.
The Navolau and Rewa Bridge rivers were running more than half a metre above alert levels, but were starting to drop as Winston moved further offshore.
A New Zealand Defence Force C-130 Hercules arrived in Fiji early this morning to deliver 12 tonnes of supplies including food, water and tarpaulins for communities affected.
"We have brought emergency supplies including tool kits, generators, water and water containers, ration packs and chainsaws for families affected by the cyclone," said Air Commodore Kevin McEvoy, the acting commander Joint Forces New Zealand.
"An inter-agency joint reconnaissance team that includes NZDF personnel are now on the ground assisting the government of Fiji in assessing the impact of the cyclone and the needs in affected communities. We stand ready to provide further assistance if required."
Mr McEvoy said a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion flew over Fiji's northern outlying islands in the past two days.
Dire situation in some areas
World Vision Pacific and Timor-Leste liaison officer David Hesaie and his family survived the storm but he knows of others who were not as lucky.
"I heard of a mother of nine children who left her 10-year-old daughter and toddler at an evacuation centre while she went home to get supplies," Mr Hesaie said today. "She did not make it back to the evacuation centre, and her children are now without a mother."
In Suva, the clean-up has started but Mr Hesaie said many trees are blocking roads, and electricity hasn't yet returned to many parts of the capital.
"The clean-up started quickly on Sunday morning by the city council, and people are working together to recover from Cyclone Winston.
"My roof is still damaged, leaving our family vulnerable to further bad weather and we have problems with electricity and water. I know many other families are the same. Some of my neighbours' taps are working, but only dirty water is coming out."
He said outside of the main centres, the situation is dire.
"My mother's village is near the three villages that were evacuated by the government before the cyclone. Since then, we have had no news from them. We hope the reason we haven't heard from them is because there is no electricity for them to charge their mobile phones, but we still worry."
World Vision is helping those affected by Cyclone Winston. It has opened an appeal for New Zealanders to donate to relief efforts in Fiji, and to help World Vision respond to future emergencies.
Family picks up the pieces
As the wind came, they gathered in the living room. Eight of them, adults and children, listened to the wind swirl and howl outside. The house began to shake, the roof iron clattered and as everything started to lift and crumble they knew they had to run for their lives.
Asesela Sadole Fong (31) and his family have been living just south of Ba on Viti Levu for five years. They have experienced cyclones before but nothing like Winston.
All that is left of Mr Fong's home is the concrete slab it was built on. What's left of the roof is in a tree nearby. What once was walls and windows now lie splintered, warped and shattered on the sodden grass.
A family digs through whatever is left of their home in Ba #cyclonewinston #themorningafter pic.twitter.com/QDSO60ehwQ
— Naziah Ali (@Alinaziah) February 20, 2016
It was a three-bedroom house with a kitchen and living room. The exterior walls were painted blue. Now it looks like a junk yard. A teddy bear covered in mud and leaves sits atop a pile of debris, a toothbrush is partially buried in a muddy patch by a mat that used to lie at the front door.
The fridge and washing machine are still standing in a corner that only a few days ago was the family's kitchen. Clothes, shoes and household items including a television, freezer, torches and blankets are strewn about the property, sopping wet and unsalvageable.
Mr Fong spoke to the New Zealand Herald this morning about the family's ordeal.
"It was so loud. It just came and took away the house," he said, sitting among the rubble. "The house was shaking and we knew we just had to run."
Mr Fong herded his parents and other family out of the crumbling home and into a church next door. The church was not damaged at all.
The family, and several neighbours, are now living there while they work out what to do.
As the Herald spoke to Mr Fong, a large gust of wind swept through, lifting sheets of roof iron from a shed and sending it flying. His brother managed to grab an end of it and pull it back it before it tore through a line where the few clothes the family salvaged were drying.
From the church small children peer out of the window. They were shaken, said Mr Fong, and it took a few days to calm them down and reassure them that the worst was over. "We are just so lucky that no one was hurt. It was so dangerous."
Like many, the Fong family were in desperate need of supplies.
"We ran out of food yesterday. We managed to get to the store and get some things and we had some rain water. All of our food is gone," Mr Fong said.
Food that the family had stored in the house was now spread across the property. Bananas, yams and other fruit lie in the muddy wreckage and chickens peck at grains that spilled onto what was the kitchen floor.
Mr Fong said what they have lost is nothing compared to what could have happened.
"Everyone here is alive. We just hope that some help comes soon," he said. "We will try and rebuild. We are saving all of the wood and tin we have left and we will rebuild if we can."
- NZ Herald and NZME
