Fiji Hurricane

Heavy Toll In

And Floods

Twelve people are known to have died and numerous houses were destroyed in a hurricane and subsequent floods which

ravaged Fiji early in February.

There were also heavy stock and crop losses, and serious

damage to roads, telephone lines

and properties.

THE worst hit islands were Viti Levu and the Yasawas (where the hurricane, with 150 mph winds, was centred for nearly two days).

Taveuni, Beqa, Ovalau and other islands also suffered. More than 2.500 refugees from the Rewa delta alone were cared for in emergency relief centres in the Suva and Nau sori areas.

The Fiji Public Relations Office described the damage as “far more widespread than in the devastating floods which hit the Colony last year”.

Despite the heavy damage, the managing director of South Pacific Sugar Mills Ltd., Mr. A. S. Hermes, estimated the year’s sugar production at about the same figure as last year —308,000 tons. However, a pro duction figure of about 345,000 tons had been expected before the hurri cane and floods.

Houses Destroyed

In the Yasawas, about a quarter of the houses were destroyed and coconut palms, the main cash crop, producing about £75,000 a year, will probably take up to seven years to recover.

On Viti Levu, more than 1,100 houses were destroyed in the eastern

half of the island alone. Damage to food crops, canefields, telephone lines, and roads will run into tens of thousands of pounds.

Flooding of the Rewa and Sigatoka areas represented the main damage on Viti Levu, especially in losses of food and commercial crops and livestock.

The main property losses were: at the Mocambo Hotel, Nadi, where the roof was blown off; at the Emperor Mines installation at Vatukoula, where 160 ft of smokestack fell on a building containing electrical equipment, causing about £20,000 worth of damage; and at Nausori, where Fiji Airways equipment was damaged in the Rewa flood.

On Vanua Levu, there was wide-

spread damage to canefields and coco nut plantations. At Moturiki, Ovalau, Nairai and Gau in the Eastern Division food crops and coconuts suffered heavily, One of the few bright sides to the hurricane was that, when it occurred, a total of £69,000 still remained in a fund set up last year to help flood victims. This money is being handed over for the relief of victims of the latest disaster.

Towards the end of February, the Fiji Visitors Bureau reported that all hotels in the Colony were operating, and that all internal air services had been restored, • See also "Out, Under and About in Fiji's Hurricane", p. 45.