Cyclone Winston

On February 20^th  2016, the strongest ever recorded cyclone in the southern hemisphere made landfall in Fiji, and his name was Winston. 

Cyclone Winston had been playing around in the south pacific for two weeks.  He made his first pass by Fiji to the west, between Vanuatu and Fiji and heading south of the islands.  He started to move east, below Fiji, eventually hitting the Kingdom of Tonga as a Category 2 cyclone.  All of us in Fiji assumed he would continue his track heading east and away from our islands, but then Winston made a move that shocked everyone.  He made a complete hairpin turn and started moving directly west – hitting Tonga again (as a Cat. 3) and heading straight for Fiji. 

Winston's path, making a hairpin turn over Tonga

This is the path Winston took straight through Fiji

Even as Winston made it’s turn towards Fiji, most weather systems predicted that he would pass south of the islands.  It wasn’t until about a day before the cyclone hit, that the projected path changed and looked like it would hit the two main islands of Fiji.  Because Peace Corps keeps us on high alert, I had been tracking this storm ever since it first came on our radar in about mid-February.  As it came closer and closer, I kept asking around in my community if anyone had heard about the cyclone, or if we should be preparing, to which they responded “No worries!  No cyclone coming!”

Cyclone prep in Dreketi-- just put rocks on top of the tin.

The 24 hours before the arrival of Winston were hectic to say the least.  As the path continued to change, we were getting calls from Peace Corps continuously updating us and informing the next steps.  In the afternoon on Friday, February 19^th, one of our staff called me and told me that I would be hosting two other volunteers at my house during the cyclone.  But the cyclone started moving faster than anyone could have predicted, on Friday it was moving less than 10km/h but overnight it started moving around 23 km/h.  At this point, the cyclone had escalated to a Category 5 Super Cyclone.  So on Friday evening, I got another call from our staff informing me that I couldn’t stay in Dreketi, and I had to get on the first possible bus in the morning to Labasa (the biggest town on the island).  Saturday morning, I did what they asked and headed to Labasa, where I met 10 of my fellow volunteers.  We went out to buy water and food and then headed back to ride out the storm.  At this point, there were groups of volunteers in 4 different locations around the country.  Thankfully the cyclone didn’t end up coming far enough north to put us in any danger, but power lines and communication towers came down, so we couldn’t contact any of our fellow volunteers to see how they were doing.  That night there was nothing we could do but stay together and wait as the wind and rain passed.  In the morning we looked around outside and saw that luckily Labasa was fairly unharmed, there were trees blown over and some signs down but overall, ok.  However reports claiming a different story in other parts of the islands began to trickle in. 

Waiting for the storm to come...

When consolidated for a cyclone, we play Peace Corps monopoly

We read stories online of entire communities being brought to the ground, and people clinging to trees as the water tried to pull them away.  Pictures of the damage started to surface, and although it would be days or weeks before we would know the true extent of the damage, we knew it was bad.  The next couple days were more of the same.  Story after story came to us about devastation in other parts of our island, and the rest of the country.  We all frantically tried to get in touch with people in our communities to make sure everyone was okay, but no connection could be made.  On Wednesday, I was able to go out to Dreketi to see if everything was okay, and thankfully it was.  I am lucky to say that my house and rest of my community were spared from the worst of Winston, and on Thursday I was able to return home.  But many Fijians, and other volunteers, couldn’t say the same. 

The destruction was vast, after taking a drive around the island I was able to see it first hand.  I will never forget standing in the remnants of a fellow volunteers’ home, as we packed up the few belongings that weren’t destroyed, put the rest into trashbags, and then watched as she had to say goodbye to her community, not knowing when or if she would return. 

Most of these I took at/near a fellow volunteer's house on my island.  Isa Melissa, we are all already missing you!

There are currently 55,439 Fijians staying in evacuation centers around the country, with no homes to go back to.  There were 24,000 homes damaged or completely destroyed by Winston.  An estimated $60 million worth of damage was done to our crops.  Hospitals and schools around the country are also damaged, leaving patients without a place to go and students unable to return to school.  42 people lost their lives to Winston, but despite all this it still impresses me that everywhere I look, the Fijian people are still smiling, laughing, and thanking God for what he has spared.  The people of this country are some of the strongest and most resilient people I’ve ever known, and they will get through this the same way they do everything: together.  I am eternally grateful that I am lucky enough to stay here in Fiji during this time of struggle and help in any way I can because I know there are many of my fellow volunteers who would give anything to be in my position.

If you would like to donate to the rebuilding fund follow this link to the New Zealand  and Australian Red Cross!!

 https://www.redcross.org.nz/donate/pacific-disaster-fund/

For more pictures, check out the Fiji Government facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FijianGovernment/?fref=ts

And for another volunteers' experience on an island that was devastated by the cyclone check out this blog: divingoffthedeepend.com

#StrongerThanWinston

Loloma, 

Elizabeth