Pool chairs were flung into the resort pool by staff to stop them flying around during the cyclone in Fiji.
WHEN my family and I arrived in Fiji a few days ago, the towering happy-go-lucky local who drove us from the airport to our resort joked how these days the country took a more relaxed approach to the numerous military coups that have plagued the small island nation’s fragile political landscape.
The last one he said was originally planned for a Saturday, but due to a big rugby match scheduled for that day, they decided to postpone it and have it on the Monday instead.
It was a funny story and this guy had a million of them, but two days later, as the largest tropical cyclone to hit the small Pacific archipelago in more than decade fast approached, it became frighteningly clear this relaxed attitude also extends to natural disasters.
Resort staff in Fiji threw the pool chairs in the water to stop them flying around during the cyclone.Source:Supplied
As news the category 5 Tropical Cyclone Winston, with average winds of 220km/h and gusts of 315km/h, was on its way the lack of information was getting alarming.
What began as a rare family holiday had quickly turned into a frightening nightmare.
My wife and I spend nearly every waking hour trying to protect our two young boys and now we have dragged them into the path of one of the most powerful storms on the planet this year.
When we asked the information desk in our resort we were met with a shrug of the shoulders and a “we’ll let you know”.
Meanwhile, guests watched on as staff began submerging the pool chairs we’d been lazing on only a few hours before, into the pool in an effort to prevent them from becoming deadly missiles, and taping up the glass doors of our hotel rooms to stop them from shattering inwards.
The enormous storm had already pummelled the Lau Islands east of our location on the south western coast of the main island of Viti Levu by the time we heard anything concrete.
We were then told when the storm hit we should stay in our rooms and stay away from the windows. Good tip.
Tourists have to stay indoors during the cyclone.Source:Supplied
Hotel guests began huddling around Wi-Fi hot spots emailing family and friends and looking up online radar images.
As the day wore on the sea became wilder and the palm trees started leaning closer to the ground than the sky and began to shed more coconuts and branches by the minute.
Other guests who we’d said goodbye to that morning as they left to take flights home began to return as the main airport at Nadi was shut down.
Although all four of us spent tonight huddled in one bed (away from the windows) we knew that we were safer that most Fijians many of whom live in low-lying houses and villages in the countryside and who will undoubtedly bear the brunt of this storm.
Before taking this trip we were ridiculed by family and friends when we told them we were considering rescheduling as the weather forecast for Fiji in the wet season didn’t look great.
Guess we sure showed them.
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