Heavy downpour of rain have caused widespread damage to homes, property and food gardens in about seven villages in West Guadalcanal.

The National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) last Friday received reports that flooding had caused villages to be swept away.

The NDMO, Police (Head Quarters and Guadalcanal Province Police) and RAMSI have deployed several assessment teams to the affected areas.

The joint NDMO, SIRC, Police and RAMSI team have covered a total of seven (7) villages including the Selwyn College Secondary School.

Names of places being visited including Selwyn College School are Koboro, Haumora, Maravovo, Nau'utu, Navasa and Paru.

In a press conference last Friday, Acting Commissioner of Police Operations, Nela Mosese, said Police Patrol Boat Lata has conducted search and rescue operations during the weekend.

Media was informed of bridges from Tamboko to Kohimarama being washed away by heavy flooding, as well as the Berande Bridge in northeast Guadalcanal.

Mr. Mosese said sixty officers in total from the Police Response Team and RAMSI's Participating Police Force are assisting the NDMO with assessing affected areas.

He said two other boats traveled to Aola area while a helicopter flew to Tamboko, as far as Aruligo areas, to evacuate families.

He told the media that a woman and her two children who had earlier been reported missing have been found alive and well, but a father and his son were still missing.

Meanwhile, a media statement from the Guadalcanal Provincial Disaster Committee and the National Disaster Management Office yesterday said eight people are still reported as missing while three unconfirmed deaths have been reported on northwest of Guadalcanal and Savo Island.

The statement also said the Guadalcanal Provincial Disaster Committee will send six teams to carry out thorough assessments from Tamboko to Kohimarama areas today, as well as dispatch the MV Kangava with food for those affected.

Further support for the affected communities will depend on the outcomes of these assessments, the Province's Disaster Coordinator, Herrick Savusi said.

The current weather is the result of a monsoon trough which lies to the south of the Solomon Islands and links to a weak Low located in the northern Coral Sea.
No cyclone warning has been issued.