Fiji’s interim Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has spoken for the first time since the outbreak of the floods which have devastated Fiji. In a statement released a short time ago, Bainimarama said he extended his sympathies to all those who had lost loved ones or had property and crops damaged.

“[The] Government will do all it can to reach out to all who have been affected to provide appropriate assistance and guidance.”

The interim government will have a Cabinet meeting tomorrow in order to be briefed on the extent of the damages, he said.

Bainimarama asked for the Fijian people to remain calms and get in touch with government authorities and agencies working to provide disaster relief.

EVACUATION CENTRES AND CURFEWS

Thousands of Fijians are homeless and parts of the country remains under curfew as emergency services deal with severe flooding.

New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully this afternoon announced a $100,000 aid package for Fiji.

There are 113 evacuation centres – 27 in Nadi alone -had been set up by 10am this morning. They are currently home to more than 9000 people.  Nadi, Ba and Sigatoka remain under curfew.

There was some good news, however, with water supply set to be restored by the end of the day to areas where it has been disrupted.  Water trucks have been ferrying water to areas without it throughout the day.

Several roads which had been blocked by fallen trees or washed away by the flooding are also reported to be gradually reopening.

TOLL TO MOUNT

Although Fiji’s flood death toll officially stands at seven, it is expected to rise sharply as dozens of cut-off villages are reached by authorities.

Red Cross disaster director Vuli Gauna told Fairfax Media that many areas had still not been reached.

“However no one has been able to visit or have access from villages that have been hit,” Mr Gauna said.

After days of torrential downpours it had stopped raining this morning and flood waters were receding, but the Fiji Weather Forecasting Centre in Nadi has warned of more heavy rain to come.

Mr Gauna said wide areas of Fiji’s main island, Viti Levu, were cut off.

Their relief teams had got into main towns like Nadi, Ba and Rakiraki but just five kilometres from them villages were completely cut off.

“I have no idea what it is like in them,” he said. “They have been cut off for three days and no one yet has had any communications with them.”

It was a “big frustration” that the water levels were preventing them from getting to wide areas to assess damage.

The main King’s Road was cut and villages off it were believed to be very badly hit. And the weather looks set to hamper relief efforts, with the MetService predicting high winds will continue to batter several areas. Further flash floods are also expected in low-lying parts of Fiji.

Vanua Levu, Northern Lau, Taveuni and Yasawas are forecast to be hit by 40 to 55 kmh winds with gusts up to 70 kmh. Further rain and thunderstorms are also expected causing flash floods in low-lying areas.

Labasa and Savusavu are also expected to be hit by more heavy rain.

The interim government’s investigation into the cost of the flood damage is already underway.

STRANDED KIWIS

A New Zealand couple with four children, stranded in flood-stricken Fiji, have spent a harrowing couple of days crossing the island in an attempt to leave the country.

Dunedin couple Nick and Trish Giblin, their three children and their friend were supposed to leave the soaked country early yesterday morning.

However, the deluge saw their flight cancelled and their attempts to get across the main island of Viti Levu thwarted, Mrs Giblin told NZPA.

The family had been staying on outer island Nananu-I-Ra for about a month when the storm hit. They were able to make it back to the Nadi on Friday when there was a lull in the weather.

But their taxi trip to one of the main towns, Ba, had to be abandoned due to the high floodwaters.

The family and four others were forced to stay the night at the taxi driver’s house.

On Saturday they almost made it to Ba, but had to wait for five hours next to a raging river.

“There were no police, no army, there was absolutely no one who offered help or advice to the 40 cars waiting with us,” Mrs Giblin said.

She said after a back road was cleared they were able to reach Ba 3km away but it still took about 40 minutes and three tows by a 4WD.

She said they arrived to “a terrible mess”.

“People were standing outside their shops with all their products covered in mud. It looked very sad really.”

Locals had told her it was the biggest flood to hit the island in living memory.

The family were now waiting for flights to leave Fiji.

SAVAGE STORM

Since the storm hit last week, power and telephone lines had been cut, drinking water was limited and hundreds of holidaymakers stranded.

The main towns of Nadi, Rakiraki and Ba were swamped after being pelted by more than 200mm of rain since Friday.

The weather was not expected to significantly improve for another two days.

Six hundred New Zealanders are currently in Fiji but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that the High Commission had no reports of Kiwis needing assistance.

The New Zealand Government said the political situation in Fiji would not affect its decision to send aid, if the country needed it.

CONCERN OVER FLOODING, SPREAD OF DISEASE

A Fijian chief has attacked the Fijian interim government’s response to the severe flooding currently swamping the Pacific Island nation.

“We have been asking the District Officer in the area to provide us with a boat since the floodwaters started rising last Thursday,” Ratu Saveneca said.

“At the time all the houses were safe but if a boat had been provided it could have saved us time and money.

“The floodwaters will remain in the next few days even if the rain stops but the Government could have been more helpful.”

Fellow Wailotua spokesman Rusiate Rakubulou backed Mr Bosenawainibuka’s concerns.”I don’t know what the Government is doing because there’s been no help since the flood started.”According to the paper, most of Wailotua was under water.

Meanwhile, Fijian health authorities have expressed concerns over the potential outbreak of diarrhoea once the floods recede.

They are instructing people to collect and drink as much rainwater as possible but to be wary of refrigerated and frozen foods from towns with intermittent electricity supply.