CALGARY – Rita Reddy has parked herself in front of her computer screen awaiting word from her family in Fiji.
“I called my uncle ten times last night, the lines just go dead after ringing for a bit,” Reddy said.
So far everyone in the Calgary woman’s family is believed to be okay, but their homes have been severely damaged.
“I’m worried, just really worried,” Reddy said from her downtown apartment.
“My one uncle doesn’t have a roof on his house and it’s pouring rain there.”
READ MORE: Fiji cyclone death toll reaches 29 after island ‘flattened’
Last weekend the island nation was hammered by tropical Cyclone Winston, considered to be among the most powerful storms on record in the southern hemisphere.
“It was horrific,” president of Calgary’s Fijian association Satendra Sing said. “Entire villages have been wiped out, schools gone…people went running into the bushes to save themselves from the flying debris.”
The death toll so far is over 20, and the damage is extensive. Many communities have been difficult to reach because of washed out roads.
“It’s going to be a long road ahead,” Reddy said.
Reddy and the entire Calgary Fijian community are brainstorming what they can to help with the relief efforts.
Watch below: Global’s ongoing coverage of Cyclone Winston in Fiji
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