Fiji Cyclone Update 21 Feb
Posted by AJ Johnston on
An update from Majors David and Vyvyenne Noakes, Salvation Army divisional leaders in Fiji:
We endeavoured to set out this morning from Suva to check on Salvation Army evacuation centres only to find our road was blocked at both ends – and a curfew is still in place. Have instead resorted to phoning, although some centres still cannot be reached by phone.
Due to the curfew, some of our evacuation centres were prevented from opening, which was a pattern around the country. At around noon today we understand that our Nadi evacuation centre was full, there were 40 people at Lomaivuna, 30 at Sigatoka, 30 at Ba, 20 at Saweni, and 6 at Nasinu.
There has been some damage to Salvation Army properties and some of our refuge centres struggled with internal flooding – the force of the wind was such that hurricane shutters were ineffective.
The worst situation we’ve been made aware of to date is Rakiraki (about halfway between Suva and Nadi). The Salvation Army officers had to evacuate their house due to leaks but are now back home and looking after several Salvation Army families, all of whom have lost their homes.
The Salvation Army is expecting more people to be brought to us by Police and the Disaster Management Committee (DISMAC) as they find people in difficulty.
We hope to get out this afternoon to see more for ourselves. Thank you for your prayers already – continue to pray for the people of Fiji.