Four Killed, Thousands Evacuated in Fiji Floods

At least four people have been killed and around 8,000 have been evacuated to shelter centers amid wide scale floods resulting from heavy seasonal precipitation in Fiji Island located south of the Pacific near New Zealand. According to the Radio New Zealand, the Fiji Government announced that the island was undergoing a crisis. The Meteorological Service of New Zealand predicted that the weather would worsen as the current tropical storm turns into a hurricane. New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and East Coast Bays Murray McCully announced today that New Zealand would make an initial contribution of $350,000 to the relief effort. "New Zealand's funding will be made immediately available to the Fiji Red Cross for the distribution of essential relief items to those in need, followed by other agencies identified as best placed to meet immediate needs,'' McCully said. The government has halted air travel inside Fiji and advised tourists to stay home until the floods reach a calmer state. The floods have blocked roads from the international airport to the main hotels and tourist resorts.