Nine families sought shelter at Ratu Latianara College in Serua yesterday after their homes and belongings were inundated by floodwaters on Wednesday morning.
School teacher Verenaisi Culai said they were thankful to be alive and no life was lost.
“It looked like an open sea out there, and we were so worried about our children that we just tried our best to get them to the buildings that weren’t flooded,” Ms Culai said.
“What happened on Wednesday really caught me by surprise because I never expected it (flooding) to be that bad.”
Ms Culai, who has been teaching at the school for the past 11 years, said this was the first time that the flooding was so bad.
“When it started raining, I didn’t really think about the flood, but when I opened our door, I saw that the water was almost entering our home.”
Ms Culai said she had to swim while carrying her children to the evacuation centre.
“Most of us, female teachers, here have our husbands working abroad, so it was a real struggle and a challenge trying to swim while taking our children to the shelter,” Ms Culai said.
