Tropical Cyclone Winston was the worst cyclone to ever hit Fiji, and was even the worst in recorded history to strike anywhere in the southern hemisphere of the world. This category 5 cyclone carried rain and winds of 220 kph, with gusts up to 325 kph. During that night of terror, many homes and crops were damaged or completely destroyed, trees were snapped off or their roots pulled right out of the ground. Electric power was lost, as power poles and lines were knocked down. Many roads and villages were completely flooded. So far, the death toll is at 44, and many others were injured. This toll should continue to rise as reports from isolated communities and small islands come in.
This last week we were privileged to visit and help some of those
affected in the storm. It truly opened our eyes....
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| This damage occurred at one of the local high schools. |
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| Many of the signs around the island were destroyed |
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| When we took this photo, we could hear the buzzing of the broken ends of the wires! |
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One village we visited was near Korovou
about 45 min or so from Suva.
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| This village wasn't waiting for government or Church assistance, but began rebuilding themselves. They have a great attitude. |
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| This used to be a little external cook house |
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| After roofs and corrugated sheet metal was torn off, the people of the village were able to hunt down the missing parts, and nail them back onto their home. |
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| After the roofs were torn off, clothing and mattresses were soaked in the pouring rain. It's now time to dry everything out. |
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| This sweet little girl looked so cute all dressed up, peering out of her home. |
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| I can't imagine the night of terror they had to endure |
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| Sarah Jane Weaver, a reporter for a Utah newspaper, who was in Fiji to cover the LDS Temple Re-dedication and Cultural Ceremony in Suva, tagged along with us for 3 days this week. She is going to publish a story on the aftermath of the cyclone, and then publish a story about our eye care humanitarian mission. We felt honored that she thought our story was worth sharing. |
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| On our way to do eye exams at a village, we unexpectedly came upon a this flooded river from the cyclone. We'll try this village again, next month. |
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| I was tempted to try crossing this flood with our four-wheel drive, but common sense prevailed, as we estimated the water was about 4 ft deep. |
As we visited different churches and villages with the news reporter, Sarah, we found that many of the churches were full of families who has lost their homes in the storm. Luckily they had a place of safety and security to go until they can rebuild their homes.
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| At this remote LDS church building near Korovou, 15 of the 20 families who lost their homes were now living in the church. The reporter enjoyed getting their stories and taking their photos. |
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| Their bedding is put out in the sun to dry. |
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| The families combined all their remaining food to share with each other, and now the the ladies were preparing supper for everyone. |
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| At this church building in Lami, where 3 families were living, they were cooking some delicious "Fry Bread" for everyone. Despite having lost everything, they insisted on sharing some with us. It was absolutely delicious. They are such special people. |
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| This face says it all... |
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| This lady and her one month old baby boy survived the night of terror, and were now sleeping on this mattress at the church. |
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| ...Drying their things out in the sun... |
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| As we went around to these village with the reporter, we took a bag of suckers to hand out to everyone. The adults loved them just as much as did the children did. |
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| Children came running out from everywhere when they saw we were handing out suckers. |
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| This little boy gave Ann the biggest hug after she gave him a sucker. |
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| This lady was very happy to take the left over suckers to share with everyone in the village. |
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| Ann had crocheted a couple of baby hats awhile ago, and decided to give one to this little one month old boy, and the other one to his 9 month old cousin. |
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| These families were very grateful for the food and supplies we (and the reporter, Sarah & her friend) bought for them to help them out at this time. |
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| This toddler loved the gift of a new ball, and loved to snuggle up to Ann. |
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| The work is only just beginning to clean up the mess after the cyclone. |
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| These young men are fixing the power pole that was knocked down during the storm. |
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| With the newspaper reporter, we visited this village leader and his wife. He took us to two different villages to assess the damage from the cyclone, and to answer questions for Sarah, the newspaper reporter. |
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| These two missionaries are now working in their casual clothes to work right along side with the victims of the cyclone to repair their homes. |
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| Sarah, the reporter came with us on this day when we did eye exams at the Lami chapel.
Because of the storm, our numbers were
fewer, but still saw about 80 that day.
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| Ann often gives the younger children a little box of Smarties she brought from Canada. They've never seen them before, but certainly enjoy eating them. |
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| About 600 youth (who were there for the cultural ceremony) had to sleep at the LDS High School for a few days following the cyclone. They had to wait for roads to be opened, or the Ferry docks to be repaired, or planes to again fly before they could return to their respective cities or other islands. |
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| The leaders of the Church decided to have the youth, who couldn't perform at the Cultural Celebration on Saturday (because things were cut short due to the cyclone), perform their dances at the High School, so they could be recorded and given to the head leaders of the church to watch. |
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| After all those hours of rehearsals, the youth were thrilled to perform, especially knowing that their church leaders back in Utah would be watching the recording. |
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| The missionaries who were also trapped in Suva after the cyclone, were happy to be able to watch the youth's performances, as well. |
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