Fijians picking up the pieces of their homes after Winston

Transcript

Fijians recovering from Cyclone Winston say they are in desperate need of clean drinking water as they pick up what is left of their houses and belongings.

In the Lovu Settlement north of Lautoka, the local church has been assessing the damage to the very basic structures that have been built on borrowed land, close to the coast.

Alex Perrottet reports from Lautoka.

A fairly recently-built house used to stand in the middle of the Lovu Settlement, but today it is lying on the ground, fresh wooden beams and glass louvre windows in pieces, the family's belongings drying on the concrete slab, the only upright structure are three concrete walls of a toilet room and the toilet itself.  Lomi Naisau is a pastor of the C3 church with her husband Mike. They recently built a small church with the help of Tear Fund within the settlement. She says seeing the family standing in the rain in their pyjamas with nothing left brought her to tears.

LOMI NAISAU:  We saw that there was a house that was actually demolished and we could only see the foundation of the house and all their belongings, well not actually all of their belongings because most of them was flown up in the cyclone as well.

But she says the church building saved lives. The surrounding shanty houses covered in corrugated iron didn't stand a chance in the category five cyclone with its winds up to 325 kilometres per hour.  Elizabeth Moore lives three houses down from the church. She was already sheltering in her neighbours house, which was boarded up to prevent the doors and windows breaking. But eventually the water found its way in and it was unsafe to stay. She climbed out through an upper window with a one year old child in her arms.

ELIZABETH MOORE:  With that wind blowing and all the trees flying around because it came with a tornado, that strong wind tornado.  You could see all the leaves going everywhere with trees and all.  Even this rooftop was flying.  I heard some tin coming off that roof because I'm right next door.  It was really scary.

Elizabeth Moore says she walks 15 minutes to get water for drinking and cooking, and all the locals need to do the same to prevent disease from the contaminated water in the village. The usual drinking wells in people's yards has been mixed with the waste water in nearby properties.  Sanjelene Lata, who lives in the community with her husband Saiyaz and their five children, says no one has heard anything yet from the National Disaster Management Office, but what's needed most is water.

SANJELENE LATA:  No one is asking about the water.  If the water is not running, at least they can supply the water trucks and we can collect it.  There is no (talk) about that either.  No Water Works Department.  Not a drop of water for those people.  What will they do?  What will they drink?  What will they do the cooking with?

Sanjelene Lata says her small children only survived by cowering in the kitchen, as the five-hour long ordeal tore the roof off the outer rooms and crushed the laundry.  While the Fiji Electricity Authority is already out on the roads repairing fallen poles and wires, there is no word yet on when clean water will arrive.