Fijivillage had assessed that at this stage a number of families have been severely affected in Ba, Nadi and Labasa.

Many poorly constructed houses in Ba and Nadi have also been completely destroyed and people are now hoping for immediate assistance. What they need right now is food and water.

This natural disaster is now being rated as the worst ever.

A number of residents living in the urban and rural areas of Nadi and Ba have been severely affected some have lost everything as we continue to receive reports about several household items including stoves and settees found in cane fields.

Some still do not have anything or enough to eat or drink the poorly constructed homes in the rural areas have been completely destroyed with nothing left for their owners to return to.

Workers who live on wages of $40 to $60 a week, those who live week by week on the money they receive have nothing left and are living with the hope that help is on the way.

These people are not in evacuation centres but are just affected by the natural disaster that has struck us since last week and to make things worse for those people who have children, school is starting within the next 10 days.

For these people, it will now come down to firstly providing the basic needs and that is food, water and shelter before education comes into the picture.