ON Monday May 24, 1976, this newspaper reported on farmers in Tailevu losing tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of root crops and livestock in the worst floods ever to hit the provinces after days of torrential rain.
The floods not only caused wide damage to crop but also killed an unknown number of cattle, pigs, goats and chickens.
District administration, field officers and agricultural officers were inspecting the areas affected in an effort to establish the total damage.
The district officer Tailevu, Ratu George Uluilakeba who headed rescue operations said his team had been working around the clock.
One daily and poultry farmer that The Fiji Times interviewed said he discovered 30 heads of cattle washed away or drowned in paddocks.
The farmer, Hari Prasad Manik, 40, near Korovou who owned more than 200 acres said he had not completed his inspection.
“There may be more dead cattle lying there in the paddocks,” he said.
He said his loss of cattle and damaged fences was estimated at more than $5000.
The first was in 1964 when similar flooding claimed a large number of his cattle.
The Manik household numbered 22, including his sons and grandchildren and Manik said he was facing a “hopeless situation”.
He said the farm had not been profitable and he had almost decided to give it up and migrate to Canada to join relatives there.
He said members of the family managed the farm and they depended on it for food and clothing.
Another farmer, Subramani Maniyam, the chairman of the Korovou rural authority, told The Fiji Times the floods damaged 10 acres of his rice plantation, estimated to be worth $600.
Mr Maniyam and Mr Manik were two of the many farmers who were severely hit by the raging waters that caused overflooded banks in almost all the rivers and streams in the province.
Ratu George said for the first time the Korovou bridge was flooded to a depth of 3ft and swift currents threatened to tear the bridge down.
