Seventy-six-year-old Malakai Waqa was swept out of his home by powerful sea currents as Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston battered his village – a horrifying moment his family would relive long after his death four days after the monster storm passed.
His daughter-in-law, Vasemaca Kotobalavu, then 27, recalls the terror as the storm surge forced its way inside.
“Our house door was flushed open by the rough tides of the sea, and it swept my father-in-law out the door,” she said.
Earlier that morning, the family had urged Mr Waqa to prepare and move to higher ground. But he had brushed off their pleas.
“Given his old age, he was stubborn and didn’t want to listen.
He replied: “I will, later.”
They had just finished breakfast when the weather suddenly worsened. Within minutes, seawater surged through their home.
“We were left swimming inside our home.”
She carried her four-year-old niece, Sereana Adi, on her back. Her husband, Rusiate Levaci, clutched their daughter Milika Moala. Their sons, Ilai Bokai, 8, and Onisimo Soko, 7, were rushed ahead by cousins as debris – roofing iron, sticks and uprooted trees – floated past.
“We could not even stand on the ground because of the high, rough tides.”
Later, sheltering uphill near the school, relatives asked about Mr Waqa. No one knew if he was alive.
Hours later, two men reported he had been carried into their home by the surge.
“When he woke up, he was so happy to see my husband.
“He told villagers he thought everyone was swept away and he was the only one alive.”
Mr Waqa suffered a severe head injury and broken ribs. He was airlifted to Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva but died four days later.
