Surviving Tropical Cyclone Winston

First of all I’d like to let everyone know that Arthur and I and all our family in Fiji are well and doing okay after the category 5 tropical cyclone Winston hit Fiji on February 20th. Secondly, this is my 4th attempt to post this blog but due to limited and variable internet access here it goes again.  Fortunately Arthur and I were visiting family at Vunirara on the other side of our island (Vanua Levu) and only experienced strong winds and heavy rains. Had we been at home, we would have had a very different experience. We came home on Tuesday February 23rd to see the devastation caused by the cyclone. Once we rounded the end of Vanua Levu whole swaths of tropical rainforest were stripped bare. The town of Nabouwalu was particularly hit hard with damage to the ferry jetty, and many homes in the nearby village being wiped out. All the way from Nabouwalu to our home we continued to se the same scenario. The good news is we also witnessed families and villages pulling together to clean up the debris, dry out soaked belongings and begin to repair homes.

When we reached our camp we discovered that we had not been spared from the storm. Many trees had fallen across our road and our camp. Our tents were badly damaged but luckily there was no damage to our ATV, generator, kitchen, or solar power system. Arthur’s cousins Mariana and Charlie had been looking after our camp while we were away and had done an amazing job of securing our camp before heading to our neibouring family’s home for safety. Charlie tells of gusts of wind. So strong that they had to sit down on the ground and wait for the wind to abate before continuing on their way. We are very thankful that they made it to safety and are here to tell their story.

This week has all been about cleaning camp, securing shelter, and getting in touch with family in Fiji and Canada. I am amazed at how generous Arthur’s family is with both their time and their homes. Arthur’s cousin Talica opened her home to us to stay until we were able to repair a tent. Luckily their home was undamaged in the cyclone. Arthur’s nephew Johnny Hewson from Vunirara brought a crew of 8 young men and several chainsaws to help clear the downed trees and assist with putting the camp back together.  Not only did they help us but they also cleared the roads to Batiri and to Waidranudranu.

We’ve also successfully reconstructed the smaller tent using parts salvaged from the larger tent. The larger tent was too badly damaged to even consider repairing. The parts are not really interchangeable but with a bit of ingenuity, binding wire and bamboo we have been able to repair our shelter sufficiently to move back in.

Communications has been really challenging. Following the cyclone all communications were down including radio, cell phones and Internet. Overseas had better coverage of events that we had here in Fiji.  Radio came back on 2 days after the cyclone. Cell phone and Internet coverage is still variable depending on your location and seems to come in and out of service. I’ve been able to FaceTime with my three girls but am still trying to connect with Thomas. I’d like to thank everyone who sent messages through facebook and email for their thoughts and prayers. I know for many of our family and friends in Canada it’s been a very anxiety provoking time with the limited communications available. It’s also been very difficult for us to find out what’s been happening around the country. The best factual description of the cyclone that I’ve found is on Wikipedia but I’m sure that you’ve all seen images on the news and on social media. As well the Fiji Government Facebook page has very good information about the ongoing response to the cyclone. I’d like to thank Kinesi for her post on facebook and her suggestion to donate to the Red Cross. It’s been estimated that the cyclone has caused over 1 billion Fijian dollars in damage. For a small country like Fiji recovery and rebuilding will take a long time.

For us we’ve learnt the following lessons

1. We need a more secure shelter
2. We need to clear more trees around our camp even if it means less shade
3. We need to implement some kind of satellite based emergency communication system

Over the coming weeks we’ll try to focus on thes three issues starting with a more secure shelter.