Apenisa Waqairadovu 
Kemueli Musunamasi still remembers the day Tropical Cyclone Winston tore through Fiji like it was yesterday.
Nine years ago today, Category 5 TC Winston, the strongest cyclone to ever hit the Southern Hemisphere left a trail of destruction, claiming 44 lives and displacing thousands.
Musunamasi, who was teaching on Koro Island one of the worst-hit areas was in his quarters when the roof was ripped off, forcing him and others to flee in the midst of the storm.
He adds that they managed to take shelter in another teacher’s flat, where they huddled together for hours as winds howled and debris flew around them.
“It was like it just happened yesterday. It was so harsh and it did not leave anything behind. We lost a lot of close friends we made there in Koro.”
Kemueli Musunamasi
He recalls how they were still nailing down roofing iron when the cyclone struck with full force. He says he and his colleagues were advised to move to the school building, but he warned them it was too late and too dangerous.
Instead, they crawled through the storm to another teacher’s quarters, barricading themselves in a bathroom, hoping it would hold.
“I was thinking about my family—I was away from them, and the only thing on my mind was that this was it. But I told those with me that the only thing we can do is pray and hope we survive the hurricane.”
In the midst of ferocious winds and flying debris, they could hear people screaming for help but he says there was nothing they could do.
When the storm finally began to weaken around 6pm, Musunamasi says he stepped outside to a scene of devastation with homes flattened, trees uprooted, and lives shattered.
Reflecting on the tragedy and survival, he says he feels blessed to have made it through but carries the weight of the loss.
Now, Musunamasi serves as the Head of School at the Fiji Vocational Technical Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities, a role he believes is a calling from God to make a difference in the lives of his students.
