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Devastation in Fiji as death toll keeps climbing

SBS World News Radio: Aid agencies are reporting more than 22,000 Fijians are taking shelter in emergency refuges in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Winston, which has killed at least 42 people.

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Devastation in Fiji as death toll keeps climbing

The 330 kilometre-per-hour winds and tsunami-like waves have subsided, but the tiny island nation still has plenty of challenges ahead.

Cyclone Winston hit Fiji with incredible force.

The tropical cyclone, rated at the highest level, Category 5, is believed to be the biggest storm to ever hit the southern hemisphere.

UNICEF aid worker Alice Clements is driving through some of the worst-affected areas on the main island's west coast, on roads that, last week, wound through lush, old-growth jungle.

"The trees look like they've been burned by the wind. There's no bark, there's no nothing. It's just sticks. It's just kind of brown sticks."

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Buildings have not fared much better.

On Koro island, one village had all 90 of its houses destroyed.

"We're going to take a photo of a house, and then we stop, and we chat to each other, and we say, 'Look, is this actually a house? Was this a construction site, or was this a house?' And then we look around and see that there's a broken bed, and we see that there's the remainders of a stove, and we see that there's an old Bible on the floor."

There are fears the death toll will continue to rise as new data comes back from the most remote of the country's 300 islands.

UNICEF says there are more than 22,000 Fijians living in shelters, not including all those living with family and friends.

In the western town of Ba, one school that had its top floor wrenched off in the wind has been converted into emergency accommodation.

"There were around about nine families in one classroom that we went to visit yesterday. There's no power. There is water, thankfully, there. But it's just an incredibly difficult environment. If you can imagine, nine large families in one room ..."

The wild winds and waves have subsided, but Fiji now faces new challenges.

Drinking-water sources are at risk of contamination, with the potential to cause mass outbreaks of diarrhoea.

Stagnant bodies of floodwater are also breeding grounds for the aedes mosquito, which carries the potentially lethal dengue fever and the Zika virus.

The Australian navy's HMAS Canberra is on its way to Fiji, expected to arrive around the 1st of March.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says Australia has deployed helicopters to reach remote areas.

"We have also been able to send four Defence helicopters. They are currently in Fiji, and they will be taking supplies to some of the outlying islands. We have also sent two P3 Orion surveillance aircraft, and they will be carrying out daily assessments of the damage, particularly in those outlying islands. "

It is hard to say how long the reconstruction of Fiji will take.

Alice Clements was in Vanuatu last year when it was hit by Cyclone Pam.

If the recovery process there is any indication, it could be months or years before Fiji has fully healed.

"I can tell you that, in Vanuatu, which had a very strong international response for the recovery process, there are still some children attending school in tents a year later. It takes an awfully long time. The scale of this is something that would overwhelm the wealthiest and most organised country."

 

 


3 min read

Published

Updated

By James Elton-Pym



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