Transcript
JEFF LEE: We've got about five teams in the field right now across the sort of north - three in Ba and two in Rakiraki and they've been held back, they haven't been able to access the communities we've been working with because the roads are getting washed out, that kind of thing and the rivers are overflowing the banks and some of the roads aren't safe to pass. The communities that are impacted by the current rain and flood situation are the same communities that were initially impacted by Cyclone Winston almost a year ago now, as well as the recent rain and flood events in December and January. So yeah, I would say it is having an impact on them. Yesterday the feedback from the field was that in Rakiraki the flooding was about knee-high in the town. [We are] also getting reports from the field that some other communities like Sabeto, that the community is flooded at this point, that the teams are more on the phone getting in touch with leaders in the community trying to get an assessment situation of how we can help.
SALLY ROUND: How are they coping? How are those communities coping as far as you know?
JL: At least the feedback I'm getting from the team right now is that they're fine, they've been through this many times, especially in the last year. [There are] a few evacuation centres open now in between our main field bases. I think there's a few people who have utilised those evacuation centres in the Tavua area and a little bit closer to Nadi. Fijians, as you've heard may times before, are strong resilient people and are coping for now.
SR: Are many people in the community still living in temporary accommodation, tents, that sort of thing?
JL:Yeah. There is still rebuilding even from Cyclone Winston so a lot of people are still in tents and temporary accommodation or in the process of building back their homes.
SR: What does this recent flooding mean for the rebuild?
JL: It will probably slow things down again. I know that (in) the flooding back in December we (were) building a number of toilets in some communities and we were worried that the new facilities wouldn't be settled and would possibly wash away, but thankfully when the flooding receded they were still in good shape. I imagine it will be more of that. The communities are usually in pretty vulnerable areas. So with the flooding it's not just a matter of your crops and your food supplies getting washed away, but quite often your belongings and so it's about getting those together again.
