Fiji Flood Appeal (January 2009)

• Issued from the National Weather Forecasting Centre Nadi at 5:30am on Wednesday the 14th of January 2009
  
  A STRONG WIND WARNING REMAINS IN FORCE FOR THE FIJI GROUP AND ROTUMA
  A SEVERE FLOOD WARNING ALSO REMAINS NOW IN FORCE FOR THE FIJI GROUP
• BA and Sigatoka remain the areas mostly affected by the poor or no water supply
• It is still raining and will most likely continue into the night causing more flooding
• Low lying areas in the Western Division like the salad bowl of Sigatoka are under water and root crops are damaged in the process. The public could expect a shortage of food
• Currently there are 23 schools being used as evacuation centres
• According to NDMO there have been 8 fatalities and one missing person confirmed. Of the 8 fatalities 5 are children with the youngest being a 3 year old girl buried under a landslide
• To date there are 119 evacuation centers with 8492 evacuees
• Nadi and Ba are still without access to telecommunications as exchange sub stations have been shut down due to flooding
• Save the Children Fiji staffs are out in the field conducting assessment regarding educational needs of affected populations, particularly children and the damage to schools
• SC Fiji relief initiative will be directed at educational assistance, whereby school stationary, textbooks and other study material will be provided to children of flood affected families.