“We were lucky our hotel was in a higher part of Sigatoka. Looking down into the village many places were completely submerged. The main bridge in and out of Sigatoka, which stood quite high above the water, was completely under water.” Craig said.

Residents whose homes were inundated, sheltered in local high schools, while the rain kept pouring down.

There was no way to escape the island as Nadi Airport was submerged under four feet of water.

“Apparently there was 200mm of rainfall in a couple of hours. There was no thunder or lightning. It was like the sky just opened up and dropped a lake over us. I have never seen rain like it,” Craig said.

The river rose in a matter of hours and with rain still falling, cyclone Daphne was making its way over from Queensland, ready to make things even worse.

“All the communication channels were down. People in our hotel were panicking when they couldn’t get through to their airlines to make new arrangements. Those who thought they would try their luck by going directly to the airport, were turned away by the police and military unless they had a valid ticket. Some became trapped when the flood waters prevented them from returning to their hotels and they ended up having to sleep by the side of the road on cardboard boxes.

“The whole event really taught me the importance of travel insurance. Those without travel insurance had to pay for new tickets, all their extra accommodation and food. You don’t want to be caught in a situation like that without it. Our seven-day holiday turned out to be 13 days. Luckily we had travel insurance,” Craig said.

Craig put his reporting skills to good use while he was trapped and did several interviews for Australian media, including 2UE, Super Radio Network and the Weather Channel.

“As a journalist, when you are in a situation like that, you naturally feel the responsibility to get the story told,” he said.

Throughout the ordeal Craig and Christine noticed how resilient the Fijian people are.

“After the water receded, people were stoically shovelling mud, sometimes up to a foot deep, out of their homes.”

This month’s flooding is the second major natural disaster faced by Fijians this year.

Heavy rains from the middle of the January caused unprecedented flooding and landslides, which led to a state of emergency being declared.

Eight people died in the January floods and thousands of people were displaced.

Five people have died and four others are missing in this month’s floods. Massive infrastructure damage has directly effected up to 150,000 people.

“A small group of us are sending money and other supplies directly over to some of the village chiefs. Deputy mayor David West is buying new windows to help rebuild a community centre that was destroyed in one of the villages,” Craig said.

To find out how to contribute to the rebuilding efforts, contact Craig Huth at 2RE/Max FM on 6552 2100.