Cyclone Gita evacuees currently staying in an evacuation centre at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Ha’ateiho, said today that listening to the cyclone warnings helped them decide to move to the evacuation centre before the massive storm hit Tongatapu.

‘Ofa Fakaanga (57) left her small house in Ha'ateiho together with her son and his family and went to the LDS Church, where other families sought refuge.

“I listened to Minister Poasi Tei on the radio, his plea to move to safe places because this is a severe cyclone. It gave me the strength to pack up my family and come here,” she said.

“I’m happy that when the cyclone hit, we were obedient and listened to the advice and pleas from the authorities, because if we did not we would have been injured and there could have been deaths. People listened and moved to safe places.”

“We came here before the cyclone after we bolted up our home and put away our belongings and packed up what we needed to stay here," she said with tears flooding her eyes. "This was the safest place to come to. So we came at around 5:00pm on that day.

“When the cyclone hit during that night we thought our house would be destroyed. But when we returned our small tin home was still standing but it was flooded, only the outdoor shack was damaged.”

“So now we are staying here. I also belong to this church and this is what our Stake President wanted, for people whose homes have been damaged or destroyed to stay here because there is clean water and dry place to stay.”

The church has its own generator running for the water and electricity supply. Gas stoves are available at the kitchen for cooking, she said.

“There are lot of families here. They go back to their homes to clean up during the day but in the evening they come back and we pray and food is distributed," she said.

“I am happy, we are all here today together with other families and that we still have life.”

Many people safe

Veisinia Moli (67) who lives in Ha’ateiho, is also staying at the shelter. She said that her son and his wife and their five children aged between 9 and 17 years packed up their belongings in their house before the cyclone and went to the shelter for the night.

“There were so many people here at the church, at least over 200 people. Our stay here during the cyclone was really good and safe.

“When we went to check on our home in the morning, part of the tin roof was gone and our house was full of water. Our outdoor kitchen and a separate shed collapsed.”

Veisinia said she was happy they decided to go to the shelter to keep safe and they will stay until they rebuild their home.

“We have everything we need here, food and water. There are at least over 100 people still sleeping in the shelter.”

She added people of different denominations were also staying at the shelter, not just Mormons.

Prepared early

Melelupe Piutau (47) said she also came to the shelter with her husband and her puppy for the night while her two sons aged 18 and 25 years decided to stay in their home.

“We heard that the cyclone was going to be a really strong one, category 4 or 5 so we decided to come to the shelter. We prepared earlier, and we already had an emergency bag with basic essentials and moved here during the day.”

“But my sons didn’t want to come. I think it’s because they’ve never really experienced a strong cyclone and didn’t understand how strong it would be.” However, she said they survived the storm.

“My house was severely damaged. There is no roof apart from my sons’ room where they sheltered during the cyclone.”

Melelupe and her family will stay at the shelter until they have access to the basic necessities.