Fiji Floods.

Village Washed Away.

DURING the last week of March and the early part of April, the Colony of Fiji experienced exceptionally heavy rain. While damage was done more or less over the entire group, the West Coast suffered most, though the only loss of life reported was that of two Indians and two Fijians at Sigatoka.

The deluge culminated in a cloudburst, which was particularly severe at the vil lage of Semo, between the Thuvu River and a creek, the inhabitants being caught between two streams in the sub sequent flood which entirely washed the

village away.

Writing of his experiences in the flood, Mr. R. Cross, of Suva, who was work ing in Semo, said: Last Sunday (March 26) it came on squally and wet, just like hurricane weather. It rained all day, and about 9 p.m. Pat Cleary, Jim and I were going to turn in when we found that the water was just about up to the floor of our house, so we thought it best to shift to a house further up on the hill. We picked up our stretchers and went to the highest house in the town, thinking we would be O.K.; but I don’t think we were there more than half an hour before the water came right up to the floor, and as soon as our stretchers started bobbing about, we thought it was time to shift.

We decided to get to the caterpillar tractor and lie on the roof for the night. It was only about 20 yards from the house we had just left, but, when we tried to get to it, we found that the water had risen too high, so there was noth ing for it but to take to the trees. By this time the water was knee deep and running so fast that one could hardly stand. There were some trees close by, so we climbed into an orange tree. There was a mango tree handy, but by this time three parts of the town were up with us in this.

Pat Cleary and I put in the night in the orange tree, and, about half an hour after we had left, the house which we had been in col lapsed and got tangled up with our tree. It was an interesting hour or so until it broke loose, as the tree was not very large and liable to carry away with the extra strain of the house against it. It finally broke loose, and we put in the balance of the night in peace!

Just imagine being in peace with it blowing half a hurricane and raining cats and dogs.

I have experienced the Dreketi flood, but never anything like this. When it was over there wasn’t a thing left in the town. All we had was what we stood up in. There are two houses, or, rather, half-houses, left in the town, but everything else has been swept as clean as a new broomed floor, that is, with the ex ception of about 12 inches of silt and mud.

None of us would have been here to tell the tale if we had reached the tractor, for the force of the water turned it over three times, I cannot describe it, for I never saw water with such terrific force before. It shifted a grader weigh ing six and a half tons about 10 yards.