Flooding in Solomons

Heavy rainfall through December 2008 and January and February 2009 caused flooding in the Solomon Islands, particularly on Guadalcanal and Savo Island, where homes and bridges were destroyed. In Guadalcanal, nine people were reported dead and more than a dozen missing.

Flooding due to the heavy rains also caused damage in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. In January, floods in Fiji killed 11 and forced 9,000 into shelters (March ’09, pg. 20). Throughout the region, tens of thousands of islanders have had to abandon their homes.