7 Cyclone Winston: Catholic Women’s Faith …
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Meanwhile, many families remained in the Evacuation Centre as they cleaned
and repaired their homes. Those whose homes had been totally destroyed stayed
in the Evacuation Centre for months. One family stayed there over a year. People
shared their food and assisted one another in cleaning up their homes and the village.
The women cooked, washed and sunned clothes and bedding, while caring for the
children. Both the men and women cleared debris from the village, fished and went
to the plantations to recover crops. The men patched the damaged roofs, walls and
windows.
In the Evacuation Centre the women organised and rationed the food supplies and
made decisions on what meals to prepare for those sheltering there, based on the
availability of food stocks. They created a roster to ensure there was enough help
to prepare and serve meals on time. They woke around 5 am to prepare breakfast.
Before breakfast, there was morning prayer. Everyone sat on the floor, facing the
makeshift altar in the front of the hall, a table covered with a white cloth with a
statue of Our Lady of Loreto placed on it and a lit candle. Each day all families
included the standard Tokou morning prayer in their devotions.
After breakfast, some women prepared lunch while others continued cleaning up
the village and homes. Some women went fishing with their children, others helped
the men gather cassava roots and firewood from the plantations. The women served
lunch at 12 p.m. In the afternoon villagers continued clearing debris and cleaning
up; women started preparing dinner around 3 p.m. and everyone had dinner around
6 p.m. Every evening at 7 p.m. they prayed the Rosary and sang hymns. After prayers,
they relaxed in the hall before sleeping.
Other women were caring for relatives and neighbours in their homes. When
Reijeli later wondered how she had managed to care for the eight families staying
with her and provide meals for them every day, her daughter told her that this was
made possible because of her daily prayers.
Lessons Learnt
Many different factors contributed to the severe impact of TC Winston in Tokou:
• Tokou’s location on the coast exposes it to extreme events and climate change
impacts such as sea-level rise and coastal erosion. The lack of natural protection
such as mangroves and a seawall placed the village at high risk to exceptionally
strong winds and the unusual level of tidal surges.
• There was no evacuation plan for the village. Had such measures been in place
before, people would have been better prepared.
• Although there was a Red Cross Committee in the village, it was inactive at the
time of TC Winston. A few months after TC Winston the Red Cross Committee
was reactivated. It has since run regular evacuation drills in the village and has
established a flag warning system.
133
Meanwhile, many families remained in the Evacuation Centre as they cleaned
and repaired their homes. Those whose homes had been totally destroyed stayed
in the Evacuation Centre for months. One family stayed there over a year. People
shared their food and assisted one another in cleaning up their homes and the village.
The women cooked, washed and sunned clothes and bedding, while caring for the
children. Both the men and women cleared debris from the village, fished and went
to the plantations to recover crops. The men patched the damaged roofs, walls and
windows.
In the Evacuation Centre the women organised and rationed the food supplies and
made decisions on what meals to prepare for those sheltering there, based on the
availability of food stocks. They created a roster to ensure there was enough help
to prepare and serve meals on time. They woke around 5 am to prepare breakfast.
Before breakfast, there was morning prayer. Everyone sat on the floor, facing the
makeshift altar in the front of the hall, a table covered with a white cloth with a
statue of Our Lady of Loreto placed on it and a lit candle. Each day all families
included the standard Tokou morning prayer in their devotions.
After breakfast, some women prepared lunch while others continued cleaning up
the village and homes. Some women went fishing with their children, others helped
the men gather cassava roots and firewood from the plantations. The women served
lunch at 12 p.m. In the afternoon villagers continued clearing debris and cleaning
up; women started preparing dinner around 3 p.m. and everyone had dinner around
6 p.m. Every evening at 7 p.m. they prayed the Rosary and sang hymns. After prayers,
they relaxed in the hall before sleeping.
Other women were caring for relatives and neighbours in their homes. When
Reijeli later wondered how she had managed to care for the eight families staying
with her and provide meals for them every day, her daughter told her that this was
made possible because of her daily prayers.
Lessons Learnt
Many different factors contributed to the severe impact of TC Winston in Tokou:
• Tokou’s location on the coast exposes it to extreme events and climate change
impacts such as sea-level rise and coastal erosion. The lack of natural protection
such as mangroves and a seawall placed the village at high risk to exceptionally
strong winds and the unusual level of tidal surges.
• There was no evacuation plan for the village. Had such measures been in place
before, people would have been better prepared.
• Although there was a Red Cross Committee in the village, it was inactive at the
time of TC Winston. A few months after TC Winston the Red Cross Committee
was reactivated. It has since run regular evacuation drills in the village and has
established a flag warning system.