MANY stories unfolded after Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston lashed through the country on Saturday, February 20.

Many stories of fear; devastating losses and despair; heart wrenching stories of survival and hope; piercing and haunting memories that have left lifetime scars; and the many other survivors’ stories of beating the odds and getting back up much stronger, physically and spiritually.

Two weeks ago, the author’s desk in his air-conditioned office was, as usual, a transit point for publication materials before presentation to the editors.

So for the next few days from February 21, the same desk was the transit point for the numerous collections of images from the devastation and ruins, and a digital basket that contained numerous reports of horrific and miraculous stories — compiled by our teams of reporters and photographers who braved the cyclone-stricken areas the day after.

Our reporters rode on cranes to be lifted from one side of a broken bridge to the other, some held on tightly to branches of fallen trees to cross rivers where links to villages and settlements were severed, while some waded right through it.

Those who were not ‘privileged’ to ride a chopper walked for hours to reach the people and also tell their stories.

What they encountered was nothing pleasant.

The pictures received at Butt St in Suva did not lie.

Neither did it tell the whole story behind those eerie post-February 20 scenes.

Team members’ conversations intermittently revolved around the safety of their family members and loved ones back in their villages.

Aerial shots of devastated villages in a few provinces did not help.

It shook the inner being of some team members.

Yet, they bravely and silently carried on gathering situation reports and images of all affected areas, regardless.

Last Friday morning, in a most timely fashion (I thought I would be stuck behind the desk!), the author and photographer Sophie Ralulu left for Labasa on board the French airforce CASA, carrying supplies for affected areas in Bua and Cakaudrove.

The team from this newspaper reached Nabouwalu that same afternoon, welcomed by stretches of dead-looking forest and vegetation, and shattered structures.

The day after, it was in severely-hit Kubulau, Nadi and Vuya districts.

From that desk-collecting pictures and stories, to the field of destruction, seeing and hearing first-hand the stories of how villagers in Bua fled for dear-life at the height of the Category 5 system, that experience was unimaginable.

Holding fast and hard to avoid unleashing a flood of emotion, and disguised behind an objective posture, we listened attentively as the chronology of that life-threatening afternoon replayed itself in a flawless narration.

From village to village, the stories were the same — of loss and devastation.

And from village to village too, the human spirit was at its peak.

Village headmen we approached in those villages spoke of a few years of recovery, but never a mention of a bleak future.

Villagers smiled and laughed continuously in our presence as a joke or two is shared atop rubbles of concrete and roofing iron.

And in all the villages visited, able-bodied men had already repaired partly-damaged homes, and building temporary shelters for those who completely lost theirs.

Over the past few days, we have read and heard stories of the resilience of the Fijian people that despite the devastation and losses, there is always a smile beaming on every face.

The victims of Severe TC Winston in Bua are no less an exception.

Their spirits are high too.

Life has moved on for them.

Despite all the havoc, they remain thankful for all that has happened and that it has only made them stronger.

Today, the author has continued to fail in establishing communication with his family on his maternal island of Yadua, in the Vuya district.

Official information received so far that the island — home to the Fiji Crested Iguana and a National Trust of Fiji reserve — was not badly hit.

That is reassuring, at least, but communication attempts will proceed until successful.

While the author salutes the editorial team for bringing the stories of the victims and heroes of Severe TC Winston, I also pay condolences to colleagues who lost a loved one or a friend to this natural disaster.