128
S. Sahai et al.
Cyclone Winston
Tropical Cyclone Winston developed into a Category 5 cyclone on 19 February 2016
as it moved westwards from Tonga to Fiji, reaching peak intensity on Saturday 20
February with winds of 280 km/hour shortly before it hit the north coast of Viti
Levu. It had been heading directly for Suva and Nadi, the most populated areas on
the island, however it changed course, cutting a destructive path through the northern
and eastern outlying islands of Taveuni, Vanua Levu, Koro and Ovalau, before it hit
Viti Levu. This sudden change of path did not allow for advance warning (DFAT
2017).
Shortly after Cyclone Winston hit Fiji rumours starting circulating, among Protestant Pentecostal Christians in particular, about the sudden change of course of the
cyclone. Why had it veered away from Suva at the last minute? Many people said
that this was because of the intensity of people’s prayer in Suva. Why was Koro
island hit so terribly? A sustained explanation, still in circulation in 2020, was that
it was God’s punishment for “all the sorcery people do there” (see Cox et al. 2018
for similar discussions). Pacific Methodist theologian Rev Dr Cliff Bird sought to
counter these “spiritualistic explanations” [that] “associate natural calamities and the
resultant loss and destruction with divine rebuke and punishment”, emphasizing that
“We cannot say that God sent the Tropical Cyclone Winston back to Fiji to teach,
rebuke or punish people … It is … freedom of nature that Tropical Cyclone Winston
moved freely and erratically in the way that it did (Bird 2016).
No one in Tokou at the time or since saw the destruction Cyclone Winston wrought
in the village as God’s punishment. But in the following descriptions God is seen as
present in all that happened.
Before
Most of the women heard the cyclone warning on the radio on Thursday and Friday,
two days before it hit the village. One woman heard about the cyclone at PAFCO
five days before and discussed the warning with her family, but at the time they did
not perceive it then as a significant threat.
In Fijian villages, it is the traditional role of the turaga ni koro (village headman)
to relay important messages or call villagers to meetings by walking around the
village, calling out the information. On Friday, the day before the cyclone hit, at 8
am and 6 p.m. he walked about the village, warning villagers to prepare. His role is
to advise the villagers, but it is up to each household whether and how to prepare for
the cyclone or not. He told the villagers to prepare for a strong cyclone although he
could not then have known its severity. There was reportedly a relaxed attitude among
the villagers towards his warnings. Only a few families started their preparations in
anticipation of the cyclone. Most started to prepare just hours before the cyclone
S. Sahai et al.
Cyclone Winston
Tropical Cyclone Winston developed into a Category 5 cyclone on 19 February 2016
as it moved westwards from Tonga to Fiji, reaching peak intensity on Saturday 20
February with winds of 280 km/hour shortly before it hit the north coast of Viti
Levu. It had been heading directly for Suva and Nadi, the most populated areas on
the island, however it changed course, cutting a destructive path through the northern
and eastern outlying islands of Taveuni, Vanua Levu, Koro and Ovalau, before it hit
Viti Levu. This sudden change of path did not allow for advance warning (DFAT
2017).
Shortly after Cyclone Winston hit Fiji rumours starting circulating, among Protestant Pentecostal Christians in particular, about the sudden change of course of the
cyclone. Why had it veered away from Suva at the last minute? Many people said
that this was because of the intensity of people’s prayer in Suva. Why was Koro
island hit so terribly? A sustained explanation, still in circulation in 2020, was that
it was God’s punishment for “all the sorcery people do there” (see Cox et al. 2018
for similar discussions). Pacific Methodist theologian Rev Dr Cliff Bird sought to
counter these “spiritualistic explanations” [that] “associate natural calamities and the
resultant loss and destruction with divine rebuke and punishment”, emphasizing that
“We cannot say that God sent the Tropical Cyclone Winston back to Fiji to teach,
rebuke or punish people … It is … freedom of nature that Tropical Cyclone Winston
moved freely and erratically in the way that it did (Bird 2016).
No one in Tokou at the time or since saw the destruction Cyclone Winston wrought
in the village as God’s punishment. But in the following descriptions God is seen as
present in all that happened.
Before
Most of the women heard the cyclone warning on the radio on Thursday and Friday,
two days before it hit the village. One woman heard about the cyclone at PAFCO
five days before and discussed the warning with her family, but at the time they did
not perceive it then as a significant threat.
In Fijian villages, it is the traditional role of the turaga ni koro (village headman)
to relay important messages or call villagers to meetings by walking around the
village, calling out the information. On Friday, the day before the cyclone hit, at 8
am and 6 p.m. he walked about the village, warning villagers to prepare. His role is
to advise the villagers, but it is up to each household whether and how to prepare for
the cyclone or not. He told the villagers to prepare for a strong cyclone although he
could not then have known its severity. There was reportedly a relaxed attitude among
the villagers towards his warnings. Only a few families started their preparations in
anticipation of the cyclone. Most started to prepare just hours before the cyclone