Fiji Begins Clean Up from Flooding

Fijiguide has had email reports from one Nadi resident that "Nadi is definitely getting back to normal and the town was cleaned yesterday. The town was apparently "buzzing with traffic and people". However, she said, a strong "stench" was still present.  Weather is now fine, she added.  "For the past two days, we have had beautiful sunshine."

In other news, received this release from Pacific Islands Report, the daily online news publication of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, 

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, Jan. 26, 2012) – Disaster relief teams heading to flood-affected areas of Fiji to assess the damage expect the clean-up will take several weeks. Six people died as a result of heavy flooding in parts of the Western Division, including a family of four, which was buried under a landslide near the town of Ba. A state of natural disaster has been declared in those areas and the permanent secretary of information, Sharon Smith-Johns, says access will be a challenge with flood waters cutting off some roads and bridges. But she says the situation is stable. “If the weather stays clear they’ll be returning to some of the homes that have been not so badly affected. Now that the waters are subsiding we can actually get the services like telecommunications, power, and water, back connected again. But it’s not going to happen overnight, as you know this is going to be a big clean up over several weeks.”