Farmers lose $thousands, Yaqona, rootcrops destroyed by landslide
Farmers who owned plantations near Mount Washington in Kadavu have lost thousands of dollars worth of yaqona and rootcrops that were destroyed by landslides caused by the recent earthquake which hit the island. Nabukelevuira Village headman Kaliveti Tukutukulevu confirmed this as farmers whose plantations were wiped away began to count their loss.
He said the farm owners could not visit their plantations because of the Mt Washington landslide. “We’re facing the mountain and we could only watch as the landslide at Mt Washington and the big stones rolled down the mountain destroying everything in its path to the ocean,” he said.
“There was a tremor after lunch on Sunday and another yesterday. Tabuya Village spokesman Alowesi Kaleca said they felt a tremor after the church service on Sunday and another one yesterday.
“This was felt at Tabuya Village it could also be felt by villagers in the district of Nabukelevu.”
A joint assessment team led by the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) will be leaving for Kadavu today.
Along with other experts and Government officials they will conduct risk assessment on the situation. NDMO acting director, Litiana Bainimarama confirmed that there was no report of injury or loss of lives.
The team she said would also provide psycho-social support and an awareness to the communities on actions to take in case of a tsunami, earthquake or landslide. Meanwhile, two Lecturers at the School of Geography, Earth Science and the Environment, Dr Gareth Fabbro and Dr Engielle Mae Paguican has given this advice –
■ If you feel an earthquake, one thing you can do is get beneath a desk or table.
■ If you are by the sea and you feel a strong earthquake, and keeps shaking for a long time, then you should go to higher grounds because you can get tsunami.
He said he saw a video of the landslide and there was a lot of dust coming up, but that was just dust, nothing volcanic.
The smoke that people saw he said was just dust from the rocks falling down.