CHRISTMAS Day was not a merry one for Sereana Ratulevu and her family.
She remembers rushing her children out of their home with a just a few clothes because the water from the nearby Volivoli Creek at Nayaulevu Village in Tokaimalo, Ra, had burst its banks.
Floodwaters inundated the village and washed away six homes, including theirs.
Christmas was a bleak affair as most families spent up to four days cleaning their homes of debris brought in by floodwaters.
Mrs Ratulevu was at home with her three children when the floodwaters rose suddenly.
Her husband had gone out to tend to their livestock
“He couldn’t return to us because there was a landslide close to where he was and so I just gathered our three children and whatever clothes I could find and we waded through the water to higher ground,” she said.
“The current was strong and we couldn’t save anything.”
Their home had been damaged earlier in the year during Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston.
After both events, the only help they got was from their church.
“We are grateful to our Jehovah’s Witness Church for the speed at which they responded.
“They fixed our home after the cyclone and now with the flooding, they are assisting us in building a new home on higher ground and so most of our days are spent clearing the land to set up the foundations of the new house. “
Amani Turaganivalu, 53, said his home was damaged during the cyclone and now he was left with nothing after the floods.
“During the cyclone, the roof of my home was blown away,” he said.
“We have never filled forms for the Help for Homes initiative, no one has come to us.
“During Christmas we planned to just have tea but we were blessed with visitors who brought fish, palau and rourou with tinned fish.
“No matter how little the food and having to share it among three families, we are grateful all the same for their generosity and their understanding of our situation that brought them to the house at which we currently seek shelter.”
Ra provincial administrator Elimi Rokoduvu said damage assessments were still being carried out in Ra.
He said the assessments would determine the assistance needed by those affected.
