Hurricane Razes Niue

For Second Time

For the second time in 11 months, Niue Island on January was devastated by a hurricane and early reports said that 300 of the island’s 4,700 people were again rendered home ;s.

[S was the third destructive >outh Pacific hurricane of the >resent season. Two others in mber. immediately following other, razed Vila in the New ides. e Niue Resident Commissioner, D. W. R. Heatley reported that latest blow struck the island t midnight on January 17-18, ling its peak about 1 a.m., the • or calm centre crossing the d between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. arning of the hurricane’s oach was given from Nadi bher Centre the previous day the people had time to stow belongings in safety. Many refuge in caves, e village of Mafetu, wiped out year, was again wiped out. Only louses remain in North and h Alofi villages. The Alofi hall unroofed. ie new partly roofed Education was completely unroofed. All es and Government buildings red damage from water— 1 7 i es of rain fell.

Buildings Down Again

ie Treasury building was again ►ofed, and most Government lings suffered some structural age. The electric power and >hone lines were demolished. smashed in the sides of the a store near the wharf, and a Dorary isolation ward of the »ital, on cliffs 40 feet above sea [. was also destroyed. Most »ital buildings suffered roof age. 1 the island’s schools suffered age. Some 200 Army tents, air iped last year as temporary mmodation, were blown away, many people are now living In is or in temporary “humpies” t from salvaged timber, ie team of builders sent to the id after last year’s blow were on the job when the latest blow ck, and it now appears that they have to start all over again far as private housing is con ted. tie taro crop has suffered con rable damage but it is thought ; a new crop will be available ;ime to meet requirements. No

immediate appeal for help from New Zealand has been made.

Some people are already asking how so many buildings, erected only in recent months to Ministry of Works design (PIM, July, ’59, p. 53) should have been demolished by another hurricane so soon. Wind gusts were not as high as the previ ous February, when some were 120 mph.

"Model Housing"

It has been demonstrated that wooden buildings designed for hurri cane conditions can survive such winds.

Following the hurricane of Feb ruary 26-27, 1959, individuals and organisations from far and wide contributed funds generously to the rebuilding of Niue, and the Govern ment had a wonderful opportunity to make Niue a model island from the housing point of view.

A Build It

Yourself

School

To go to school you first need to build it. These pupils of the Utu Inter mediate School, a few miles from Kavieng, are building new school rooms of cement bricks -although they had never worked on a cement building before.

They are being in structed in the work by Mr. Victor Nicolai. A similar self help pro gramme is going on in the village of Medina, on the east coast of New Ireland, where a brick primary school is being built.

Photo: Keith Chatto.