Wainiyabia Village waiting till last minute
Vunibau villagers prepared, learned from Winston
Despite flood warnings over all forms of media, some people living in the low-lying areas waited for the last minute to take precautions. When the Fiji Sun team arrived at Wainiyabia Village in Navua yesterday, children were playing in the flood waters and people wandering around.
58-year-old villager Villiame Seseu said: “We are waiting for the right time to move to the evacuation centre. “We do not know what to do because no one had informed us what to do.”
Learning from the effects of Tropical Cyclone Winston Tropical Cyclone Winston was a lesson for Vunibau villagers in Navua.
Yesterday the villagers were well-prepared to move to an evacuation centre with their families if their village got flooded. Villager Atunaisa Lacabuka, 35, said: “During Tropical Cyclone Winston no one was injured in our village and we were not that prepared for the cyclone. “As soon as we heard that the depression is approaching Fiji, we had started to take precautions.” Mr Lacabuka said there were more than 100 households in the village. “Tropical Cyclone Winston had made us to be extra alert and prepare ourselves in advance for other disasters,” he said.
About 20 families yesterday took shelter at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in Calia, Navua. Evacuee Aslika Cama said: “Most of the families that have taken shelters at the LDS Church are mostly from Calia and nearby villages. “Most of us started coming to the LDS Church for shelters around 12pm.” Wainiveidio Village in Navua was one of the village that was worst affected by flooding. When the Fiji Sun team arrived there yesterday, the water level was still rising and most of the people were moving to their nearest evacuation centre. A resident, Jone Matai, was securing his home with a rope from one end of the house to the other. He had been staying in the village for the past 10 years.
He said: “This is my first experience with flooding while living at Wainiveidio.” Nearby villages that were affected were Tokotoko Village, Naitata Village, Naitonitoni Village, Calia Village and a few villages in Nakaulevu and Pacific Harbour. When the Fiji Sun team were in Navua yesterday, the water level of the Navua River was rising. Edited by Rusiate Mataika