THE country has been hit by many natural disasters in the past — from a tsunami to cyclones, flooding and landslides. These disasters have caused many families emotional pain and financial loss.
Homes have either been damaged or taken away by floodwaters and
landslides are known to have buried homes and some villages, not
forgetting the lives lost.
With the country currently in the cyclone season, bad weather can be expected and associated with it the floods and possible landslides.
As a flashback into some natural disasters, today The Fiji Times takes a look at two landslides in particular within the past decade.
In one incident, a bus with six people inside was pushed into a flooded river by a landslide in Tailevu while in the other a family was buried in the interior of Ba.
The two incidents happened
during the cyclone season, when heavy rainfall was being experienced in the country.
By AVINESH GOPAL
IT was a day away from the Easter weekend and people had started moving to different places in the country to be with their loved ones for a few days.
However, weather forecasters had warned of a tropical depression approaching the country on the same day — April 8, 2004.
Without having a slight hint of what was waiting ahead, a Sunbeam Transport Ltd bus (DN100) was on a journey along the Kings Rd.
Some vehicles had made the journey in heavy rain and bad road conditions and there were others following the bus.
There were some passengers in the bus when it had to stop at a flooded area near Nabulini Village in Tailevu about 3pm.
On April 10, we quoted a police spokesman saying it was raining heavily at that time and there was flooding in the area.
“A lot of passengers went to the village to take shelter after someone asked them to go to the village because of the weather,” he had said.
The last passenger to disembark walked about 10 metres away when a landslide took the bus into the flooded Wainibuka River.
Inside the bus were two women passengers, two male passengers, the bus driver and the checker, who could not do anything to get out of the bus.
The last passenger to disembark before the bus was taken away into the river reportedly found his way to the Rakiraki Police Station, where he reported the incident about 5am on April 9.
Considering the flooded roads and landslides, police officers were only able to reach the scene on April 10 after the roads leading there were partly cleared by the authorities.
The police officers recovered the body of Farzana Yashmin from the bus on April 10 and the body of Mohammed Jaan was found nearby a few hours later.
I arrived at the scene on April 11 and the road conditions were such that even our four-wheel-drive vehicle found it hard through the then dangerous road.
With The Fiji Times Lautoka office manager Oconieli Ken and photographer Jai Prasad, I arrived at the scene as police officers were preparing to pull the bus out of the river.
The family members of the missing four people and the villagers of Naibita and Nabulini also assisted in the search.
It was about 1pm when the bus was pulled out of the river and soon after, the body of bus checker Clifford Thoman was found about one kilometre away.
Marica Viti of Naibita Village in Tailevu discovered Mr Thoman’s body while digging on the river bank for bait to catch fish, it was reported on April 12.
On April 13, we reported the body of Gulnaz Bi Yunus was found about two kilometres from where the bus was pushed into the river the day earlier.
It was also reported the police were looking for the bodies of bus driver Nisar Ali and his son Intaz Ali.
The Fiji Meteorological Services had also warned on that day of flashfloods in low-lying areas because of rain brought by a tropical depression.
On April 14, we reported the search for the bus driver and his son had halted because of heavy rain and the rising water in the river.
In the following days, we also reported of the problems caused by flashfloods in various parts of the country, forcing road closures and the evacuation of families.
On April 22, we reported that the decomposed body of Intaz Ali was found on the banks of the Wainibuka River on April 20 and the search for his father’s body was continuing.
On April 26, we reported Nisar Ali’s family had not lost hope and they would continue searching until they found his body.
While there is not much reported on what happened with the search, the incident did leave emotional scars in the lives of the victims’ families.
It was January 2012 when there was a report of another deadly landslide, this time in the highlands of Ba.
Yet another tropical depression was affecting the country when a landslide buried the house of Anare Taligo at Tukuraki on January 24, 2012.
Mr Taligo was sleeping in the house with his wife and two daughters when they were buried alive by a landslide from just behind their home.
The bodies were recovered three days after the tragedy and it took villagers one and a half days of digging to locate the family in the buried house.
On January 27, we reported on the tragedy with exclusive pictures of the house and the recovery of the bodies.
It was also reported on the same day that five houses at Natalotawa Village in Ba had been destroyed by landslides, prompting villagers living near hills to move to safer ground.
Considering that landslides have claimed lives in the past and they can be deadly, it is only wise to be alert when on the roads or if living near hills.
This is particularly so during the bad weather, not forgetting that we are still in the cyclone season and heavy rain can be expected.
