Flood warning is now in force for most town areas across the country

Please take necessary precautions as a flood warning is now in force for most town areas across the country.

A heavy rain warning has also been issued for the whole of Fiji.

There is a flood warning for Nadi Town, Rakiraki Town, Ba Town, Navua Town, Tavua Town, Sigatoka Town, Nausori Town.

The Nadi Weather Office says there is a flood warning for Vatukacevaceva to Rakiraki Town, Dreketilailai to Labasa Town, Toge to Ba Town, Sabata to Navua Town, Votualevu and Mulomulo to Nadi Town, Nasivi to Tavua Town, Keyasi to Sigatoka Town, and Waimanu to Nausori Town.

High tide is at 3.12am tomorrow.

Low tide is at 8.50 tonight.

Please note that a Tropical Cyclone Warning remains in force for Southern Viti Levu, Vatulele, Beqa, Kadavu, Moala group and Southern Lau.

With the change in its movement, Cyclone Keni proved the projections wrong as the eye of the system did not make landfall as earlier stated by the Nadi Weather Office.

Destructive winds are now being experienced in Vatulele, Kadavu and nearby smaller islands.

Strong winds have also died down in Suva, Nausori, Tailevu and Rakiraki.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Keni is moving East South East at about 32 kilometres per hour.

The centre of the cyclone was located about 50 kilometres South South East of Kadavu in the last hour. The Cyclone is expected to be located about 80 kilometres west of Ono-i-Lau at 10 tonight.

The main issue now is storm surges, sea and river flooding.

SITUATION REPORT

A few houses have been damaged by strong winds in Nakasileka village, Kadavu. This has been confirmed by the Turaga ni Koro of Nakasileka, Buli Cakau. Cakau says they are experiencing strong winds with seas gradually becoming rough.   

Ba

Ba Town is flooded and the water level continues to rise.

Special Administrator, Dip Narayan says this is the third flood that has hit Ba Town in the last 10 days.

Flood waters have also entered a few houses in Nailaga, Ba.

A resident Ashwin Singh says that swollen creeks has resulted in flood waters rising and the washing away of the Nailaga bridge which has cut off access to more than 200 residents.

Flood waters in Varavu, Ba have receded.

Tavua

Access has been cut off for about 150 people in a settlement in Balata, Tavua as a resident, Vinita Devi says a bridge has been washed away in flood waters.

She says some houses have also been affected by flood waters.

Another resident Vijay Kumar has confirmed that the Nasivi River has burst its bank and flood waters have entered nearby farms.

Vatukoula resident Analisa Gakula says about 20 homes in the Nasivi area are affected by flood waters.

Bus Services

Bus services will normalise tomorrow except for areas where roads are washed out.

This has been confirmed by Fiji Bus Operators Association General Secretary Rohit Latchan.

Fiji Taxi Association General Secretary Rishi Ram has also confirmed that taxi services will normalise tomorrow.

Roads

Queens Road near Wailoko Road junction in Sabeto is flooded while

Kings Road is closed at Tavua. FRA says flooding is a serious concern in the area as the Sabeto River level is still rising.

Fiji Roads Authority says landslides and rock falls may occur in areas on Milverton Road, Edinburgh Drive, Kings Road ‑ from Naqia to Nabuli, Ratu Mara Road ‑ from Lakeba Street to Grantham Road, Ellery Street, Waimanu Road, Ono Street and Wairua Road.

Nadi Back Road between Pacific Energy Service Station and Nadi Town end junction.

Water

People in the Western Division are advised to store water.

The Water Authority of Fiji says they have temporarily suspended water carting in Ba, Tavua, Lautoka and Nadi however 27 trucks are distributing water in Labasa.

The Authority says it had to shut water supply in Kadavu due to strong currents.

It says the Nadi, Lautoka and Ba wastewater pumping systems remain in full operation for now.

The Authority says if there is an urgent need for water then people can call them on 5777 or email them on tckeni@waf.com.fj.

People should boil drinking water before consumption during this period.

Power

There is no power supply in Tavua and Ba and this is partly due to deficiency in generation capacity and damaged power distribution network.

FEA Chief Executive Officer, Hasmukh Patel says momentary gusts and torrential rainfall throughout Fiji has caused power disruptions.

Patel says that Sigatoka presently is also without power but their teams are working to restore power supply and it is anticipated that they will be able to energize parts of Sigatoka later this evening.

He says parts of Lautoka are being supplied with electricity from the Vuda Diesel Power Station while some parts of Nadi where the transmission and distribution network is still healthy are being supplied with electricity.

Patel says as a result of a permanent fault earlier this morning FEA lost connectivity of the Nadarivatu to Vuda 132 kilovolts main transmission line.

He says this line transports power from the Hydro Power Stations in Monasavu and Nadarivatu to the Western Division of Viti Levu and as a result, no hydropower is presently being supplied to the Western Division which is now dependent on the diesel stations.

Patel says power supply to parts of Rakiraki is from FEA's Diesel Power Station in Rakiraki.

He says FEA are presently running the Kinoya Power Station to supply electricity to those areas that do not have any faults in the associated transmission and distribution networks in the Central Division.

Patel says they expect to run the Wailoa Power Station once the flood waters recede and this will enable FEA to restore power supply to most of the affected areas in the Central Division later this evening except to those areas where the power lines have been damaged.

He says that 95% of power supply is available in Labasa while it is fully restored in Savusavu, Ovalau and Taveuni.