The 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck the isolated area In the late hours on Wednesday the 25th of July causing landslides that damaged property and food gardens.
Authorities say it compounded already existing flooding, caused by heavy rains two weeks before the quake.
They say a ship is bound for the Weathercoast with food and emergency supplies for the officially estimated 9,000 or so villagers affected.
Our correspondent in Honiara, Koroi Hawkins asked the National Disaster Management Officer and Coordinator for Guadalcanal, Herrick Savusi, about the assessment report and the relief effort.
Presenter: Koroi Hawkins
Speaker:Disaster Management Officer and Coordinator for Guadalcanal, Herrick Savusi
SAVUSI: Ah yes, we've sent two multi-sectoral assessment teams to the affected area that was on the 29th until the 3rd August and we've compiled a report and now we're planning on giving relief to the affected population.
HAWKINS: What are some of the issues arising from the earthquake that have been identified in the report?
SAVUSI: Ah from the assessment report, there are damages to food gardens basically and water supply systems in three communities. There's also damages to some shelter, housing and the main cause of damage is landslide and flooding.
HAWKINS: In some initial reports, there were reports of multiple houses damaged by landslides, but I understand after the assessment, this is shown to be less than was initially feared?
SAVUSI: Ah yes, that's true and during the assessment, we also distributed tent shelter kits which was donated by World Vision of Solomon Islands and yeah, we already distributed tent shelter kits to those whose houses were either damaged or partly damaged during the disaster.
HAWKINS: And now I understand there's some work on getting immediate food relief to the Weathercoast, how is this going?
SAVUSI: That's right. The Guadalcanal Province together with the National Disaster Management Office are planning on distributing food relief. This is going to happen sometimes today or may be tomorrow. We plan to send around 50 tonnes of rice to the affected communities.
World Vision has offered additional 60 shelter kits, 200 jerry cans and 200 mosquito nets which we are going to take with us during this relief operation.
HAWKINS: Were you personally on the ground or were you with the assessment team that went over?
SAVUSI: No, I didn't go with the assessment team, but I also was part of the initial situation overview by chopper, after the earthquake.
HAWKINS: After the initial food relief, there's going to be a more extensive sort of support to the otherside and I understand you're doing a service delivery report of some sort for this. How long after this initial help will that come into play and what does that involve?
SAVUSI: Ah, this is the initial relief we're planning on, but after this. There's a lot of organisation showing interest to respond on specific areas, like shelter and water supply and we're hoping that they'll come up and support us with this more like a rehabilitation phase of this disaster.
HAWKINS: And I heard there was some mention that apart from the earthquake, there has been a lot of heavy rain on the otherside and that is also a part of causing some of the problems that have been identified in the situation reported. If you could talk about that affect as well?
SAVUSI: Oh actually we've received reports of severe flooding and landslides before the earthquake actually shook and actually the earthquake just worsened the situation. The actual damage was caused by the heavy rain that occurred nearly two weeks before the earthquake.
HAWKINS: Finally, any reports of the people on the ground, how do they feel, what are some of the things that have come back maybe personal stories of individuals or families. Are they in a really bad way or are they coping?
SAVUSI: I must say that Guadalcanal, I mean what this part of Guadalcanal is known as the Weathercoast. The weather is always harsh and our people have very strong coping mechanism, so although that situation is really bad, the people still cope with the situation and by now, what we've heard is that they're still waiting for support from the government and the province.
