Hurrican[?] [?]Eaves
pp. 32-33 · Read in the full issue
Fiji's [?]Orst
Trail C[?]Haos
The hurricane which struck Fiji October 23/24 caused damage run ning into millions. Stan Ritova captured the shot at top 12 hours before the storm centre reached Suva. It shows one of the old build ings at the university, a portion of its roof already torn and flung up side down over the ridge. A street scene (above) in flooded Nausori compares with one (above right) from the other side of Viti Levu at Lautoka where the 180 mph wind ripped this new house almost to pieces. Right, Lautoka Hospital, from which 200 patients were safely evacuated. —Photos: Fiji Public Relations Office and Fiji Times.
The path of hurricane Bebe can be charted from the pattern of scattered debris wrenched from the damaged school buildings pictured above between Tavua and Ba. Right across Viti Levu again the trouble was more water than wind, and a 270 ft section of the Navua River bridge was swept away by the raging torrent. At right, the scene as the water began to subside. The steel span is still below the water.
Well-known landmark to air travel lers, the old RNZAF hangar at Nausori fell before the fury of the storm. At right, floodwaters cover the countryside in the Koronivia area near Nausori. Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara described the hurricane as "the most inten sive and extensive in Fiji's history".
The death toll would have been much greater if there had not been
forewarning.
—Photos: A. G. Shearer.