Heavy rain has left hundreds without shelter, with the worst affected forced to seek temporary shelter at school halls, others with friends and relatives.

“It’s a disaster for us, not too long ago we lost everything from the April floods, now it’s the same, the damage to our house is beyond us,” stated one distraught mother of three.

“We were lucky we packed what we could and left before it got worse, but nothing prepares you when you return…it is always sad when we have to start all over again,” said Sally, a market vendor at the Burns Creek settlement.

Many community leaders and church groups are taking the lead in cleaning up their area, with most calling on the government to do more to assist those affected.

“We have always had to fend for ourselves, we want the government through the relevant ministries to help us, the more we delay the greater the chance of something worse happening like an outbreak,” said Nigel, a community leader in Burns Creek.

Meanwhile, Health authorities have warned residents in Honiara that the worst is not over, “you must remain vigilant, take precautionary measures, waterborne diseases becomes a problem in such conditions,” a short statement reads.

“We have been to the communities affected by the floods, and it is not going to be easy, the clean-up will take time, we are working with leaders in those communities to ensure that we do the simple things correctly,” stated one senior public health officer spoken to early this morning.

“So cleaning of blocked drainage, properly discarding garbage and just maintaining proper hygiene, even in such situation.”

Water authorities have also reminded residents in Honiara to boil water, “as the recent flooding has caused contamination to some of Honiara’s main water sources.”