Fiji Receives ShelterBoxes After Cyclone

Up to 200 people hit by Cyclone Tomas in Fiji have been given emergency shelter by disaster relief charity ShelterBox.

The category four storm battered the Vanua Levu and Lau Group islands last month, destroying homes and crops and prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency.

Two ShelterBox Response Team members, Lyndon Tamblyn (NZ) and Walter van der Kley (NZ), have distributed 20 boxes of aid containing ten-person disaster relief tents and life-saving supplies to the Undu area in Vanua Levu’s north.

The team received transportation and logistical assistance from Rotary clubs and government authorities both in Fiji and New Zealand.

'Large damage'

Lyndon said: 'This was a very slow moving cyclone and battered areas for up to 48 hours with winds of 150 to 220km per hour. It created a major disaster on a big land and sea area covering many regions, some of which were a day’s travel by boat and with no working aircraft landing zones for aircraft.

‘Many homes have been destroyed by Cyclone Tomas winds and the ensuing tidal surge. Because of no road access to remote villages, we had to use a mixture of transportation means by road and by boat.

'There was large damage to telecommunications, roads, electricity supply, water supply and to food crops. The 20 ShelterBoxes we distributed were well received by those who had lost their homes in the disaster.’

Walter said: 'This was a successful deployment with the help much appreciated. The ShelterBoxes we distributed by boat were in very isolated areas and we couldn't have done it without expert local boatmen and Government logistical support.'