10 Years On: Deadly Landslide Still Haunts Losena Nai
The 80-year-old mother lost his son and his young family, who were buried alive by the landslide in 2012.
Every time there’s a heavy downpour deep in the highlands of Ba, Losena Nai is ALWAYS flOODED WITH flASHBACKS OF THE tragedy that unfolded on a fateful Thursday night in the village of TUKURAKI.
Ms Nai, 80, lost four of her close family members on the night of January 26, 2012, when a massive landslide plunged through her son’s home, killing all four of them – her youngest son, daughter-inlaw and two granddaughters, and forcing other families to flee their homes for safety.
Anare Taliga, 38, and his wife, Mereoni Robe, 23, died with their daughters Losena Nai and Makelesi Matalau, who were only 18 and six months respectively.
Ten years on, that fateful night still haunts the mother of six.
According to Ms Nai, prior to the tragedy, her son’s family had just returned to the village and was at their home when continuous rainfall caused the soil to erode, burying the family of four with no mercy.
Memories of their demise still haunt Ms Nai to this day, and she tries her best to accept that they are no more.
“Au dau nanumi iratou tuga (I always think of them),” she said.
It was reported that rainfall at the time of the incident was above average, and Ms Nai agreed.
According to the Pacific Community (SPC), the average rainfall for the month of January is usually between 300 to 400 millimetres (mm). That year, 939 mm of rain was recorded from January 24 to January 26.
Ms Nai last saw her son when he left her at one of the nearby villages because he had to return to his young family back in Tukuraki before the weather worsened.
“I wanted to accompany my son and get to the village, but he did not agree because rivers were flooded and at the time, I was 70 years old. Travelling in bad weather was not an option for me. He knew I was safe here.,” she said.
There were times when Ms Nai would suddenly bury herself in tears when she thought of how her grandchildren would be like right now.
“If they were alive today, they would be in primary school,” she said.
To avoid the emotional pain, she has not returned to the old village site since the day of the tragic accident.
Ms Nai said this was a sign of respect and that she was trying her best to leave the past behind.
She said there was a minor landslide at their new village site, and it brought back memories she wished were erased from her mind.
“I took everything and ran to the evacuation centre. People were staring at me as I ran towards the hall. I can’t just forget what happened,” she said.
We love our new place, and we are still trying to recover from the landslide even though it happened 10 years ago Manoa Tuilau Tukuraki villager
OTHER DISASTERS
There were other major disasters that wreaked havoc in the village as well in the past decade.
SPC says the situation at Tukuraki Village worsened when Tropical
Cyclone (TC) Evan hit less than 11 months after the landslide.
The category four cyclone directly hit Tukuraki Village and took to the ground what villagers salvaged from the landslide, including crops and infrastructure.
In 2016, the biggest and deadliest cyclone that Fiji experienced yet – TC Winston – also hit the village but this time, it forced many villagers out of their homes.
A nearby cave became a refugee camp for five families, for an entire month.
NEW BEGINNING
In 2015, the Fiji National Disaster Management Office secured a new gazetted site for the people of Tukuraki.
And when TC Winston hit, the relocated work became a top priority for the Fijian Government.
A new site that belongs to the Yavusa of Yakete in Tukuraki became their new home.
The Mineral Resources Department then carried out soil and geographical information system mapping on the site to determine its suitability and disaster vulnerability, SPC reported.
Following TC Winston, the Fiji National Steering Committee of the Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific launched the relocation work and implemented by the SPC.
The construction included 11 wooden houses that came with a kitchen, toilet and bathroom facilities, and a community hall that took 15 months to build.
These houses are built to withstand category five cyclones. The keys to their new homes were handed over in 2017.
According to the Provincial Administration for Ba, Ravuama Nagatalevu, these homes have lived through three cyclones so far.
While the new site is still new to the village of about 40 people, some say they are still reeling from the devastation in 2012.
Manoa Tuilau lives not far from Ms Nai, and he said seeing Ms Nai reminded him of the two days he and other men in the village dug the buried site to locate the four bodies.
“It’s like it just happened yesterday. It was a tragedy that I would never forget,” he said.
“We love our new place, and we are still trying to recover from the landslide even though it happened 10 years ago.”
DISASTER DISPLACEMENT
Tukuraki has become a household name for organisations that deal with disaster risk reduction.
The village was visited by a group of Government and non-government organisations that were part of a regional consultation on disaster displacement this week.
Organised by the Platform for Disaster Displacement (PDD), the consultation brought together Governments from around the Pacific, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, SPC, UN International Organisations for Migration and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The Ministry of Disaster Management permanent secretary, Salaseini Daunabuna, said tailor-made approaches must be considered to lessen the climate change vulnerability.
“I am positive that some of you would have come away with a broadened perspective, seeing firsthand how relocation can affect whole communities, who are forced to move because of climate change and natural disasters,” she said.
“Although a sad story, it stresses the realities that we all face as a region, but above all else it shows our resilience.
“It is important that we share experiences on what has worked and what are the gaps in our displacement, mobility and protection agendas.
“Understanding our challenges and the underlying dynamics on why some approaches have not worked is important in building future robust regional and national frameworks to identify human mobility pathways as viable climate adaptation strategies.”
“These are just commitments, unless they are put into action.”