Huon Gulf villages report damage to homes, gardens

National

By JIMMY KALEBE
VILLAGERS in the Morobe local level government of Huon Gulf, Morobe, have reported damage to homes and food gardens by landslides caused by Friday’s earthquake.
Huon Gulf district officer Moses Wanga said he was awaiting updates from people on the ground to plan the next course of action.
Bosadi villager Gosa Orowa told The National that some villages along the coast were hit by tidal waves which caused erosion.
“The villages of Amua in Ward Five had three houses destroyed.
“Landslides destroyed food gardens in the villages of Sapa, Kobo, Bau and Sowara,” he said.
Some villagers noticed cracks on the ground.
Orowa said tidal waves damaged the shoreline.
“This resulted in the uprooting of some coconut trees planted recently to act as a sea wall by villagers,” Orowa said.
He said heavy rain was continuing in the area with flash flooding and more landslides expected.
“We hope that by the end of the week, everything should return to normal,” he said.
Orowa said authorities were always slow in responding when natural disasters struck.
“This may be because some are not equipped to do surveillance early.
“That is something that the Government should take into account and help provincial disaster centres respond to such situations early.”