MAINTAINING GAIA

So tropical cyclone Mick has ENGULFED Fiji.

The Category 2 hurricane arrived on Fiji’s main island of Viti Levu on Monday and slowly travelled in a south-easterly direction towards the country’s capital, Suva.

I have to tell you, I have never experienced anything like it before, it was intense! Winds around the eye were hitting 95mph and the rain was relentless.

The WWF office closed at lunch time and by about 2pm the entire country had closed, except, thank be to the god of bad music, the radio stations.

I tried to venture outside to go to a local shop (the Chinese was open), but as soon as I got out onto the street and into the open I realised that it probably wasn’t going to happen. Seeing tree branches fly through the air at me while trying to walking against 95mph winds and being blinded by horizontal rain made me think that Mother Nature was ahead of the game this time – thanks Mum! 

Suva was lucky really as the eye never really made it over head, but the poor people on the west coast really took a battering and tragically 3 people lost their lives. There are still others that remain missing.

However, in Suva, where I was, people I met on the street seemed to be enjoying it and I have to admit that I kind of did it as well. Some girls had decided that it was a good time to take their dog for a walk (the dog also seemed to be having the time of its life) and there were even people playing touch rugby in the park!

Electricity went out pretty early for Fiji as did the phone lines and they weren’t reinstated until Tuesday night. The only entertainment I had then was the radio and there is only so much Black Eyed Peas I could handle… silence was then adopted.

There are currently 3845 people being housed in temporary refuge shelters due to the extensive flooding and damage to private property. A national food drive has been launched to redistribute food to those in need as food prices rocket due to the damage sustained by crops.