Eight killed in Fiji floods; thousands seek shelter

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Authorities rushed on Monday to deliver clean drinking water and other supplies to thousands of villagers who fled flooding from tropical storms that have killed at least eight people on this Pacific island nation. The government declared a state of emergency in the hardest-hit western districts of the main island of Veti Levu, where dozens of international resorts are located. There have been no reports of tourists in trouble in that area. The airport in Nadi, the island's main link to the outside, remained opened, but the city was flooded and some tourists were being turned back to their points of origin. Floodwaters were slowly subsiding Monday in some of the villages worst hit, the government said, but forecasters predicted more heavy rain later this week.