Three villages in Taveuni have acknowledged the efforts by the National Disaster Management Office to bring the National Disaster Awareness week to the Garden Island.
Dreketi Village Headman, Iliesa Tuiloma says they took the advice seriously and agreed to participate in the tsunami drill because of the significance of it to their livelihood.
Tuiloma says he heard from his elders that in 1953 a tsunami hit the village of Somosomo which had a great impact in the lives of the villagers.
He says the disaster awareness program has triggered them to form their own village disaster committee to look into the business of disaster preparedness.
He adds village response to this tsunami drill was very encouraging since most of the villages in Taveuni was badly hit by Cyclone Winston in 2016.
South Pacific Community Disaster Management Advisor, Noa Tokavou says it was critical that villages formed their own disaster committees and also drew up their plans for evacuation for such emergency situations.
315 villagers of Somosomo attended the drill while 77 attended the drill at Lamini and Nasarata village.
