Wapo Kave and his wife, Christabell travelled to Port Moresby on Nov 9 to attend a bride price ceremony and were expected to return last Thursday.
Upon handing their boarding passess at the Jackson airport before boarding an Air Niugini flight to Popondetta, they were advised through the public address system that disaster the province and therefore, flights going there had to be cancelled.
“We thought it was a minor problem but later found out that flood waters had devastated the province,” the worried father, who had not contacted his children since last Thursday due to communication break down, said.
The Kaves are from Monge village near the Double Cross River in the Ijivitari local level government, one of the areas greatly affected by the flood.
The Double Cross Bridge was washed away along with 200 homes in the area.
Mr Kave said they were both helpless because they were stranded and could not do anything to get to their children as there was no transportation and no communication.
They left behind their five children – Jimmy, 18, David ,17, Tony, 13, Lucy, five, and Rita, three, – when they travelled to Port Moresby.
The couple are worried as they do not know whether their children are well or not.
They believed the National Government should move quickly and do something to restore transportation so they could go back quickly to their children.