25 Jan 2010

Flood-affected in Solomons' Guadalcanal given water

7:53 pm on 25 January 2010

Disaster officials in Solomon Islands are distributing clean water to people worst affected by last week's flooding in Honiara and parts of Guadalcanal.

One of the worst affected areas was by the Lunga River on Guadalcanal and two children were killed when they were swept away as the river burst its banks.

Julian Makaa of the National Disaster Management Office says about 200 people had to be evacuated but have now returned to clean up water logged homes and food gardens.

He says at the moment providing clean, drinkable water for affected villagers is a priority.

"What we're doing now is just distributing water, because water is a big problem at the moment as all the rivers they using are still muddy and wet from the flood."

Julian Makaa says work is progressing on restoring bridges in the area affected by floods and landslides.