The painful memories of a grandmother trapped under a collapsed wall and drowning from a tidal surge will forever be with Atelina Waibuca.

The 27-year-old clearly recalled the fateful night that ended the life of her “Bubu” (grandmother), Keresi Tupou, 98.

The late Ms Tupou was one of the people killed during the height of Tropical Cyclone Winston a year ago today.

“It was one of the most frightening experiences that I’ve ever faced, especially with my two children, the older one was three-years-old and the younger one was only five-months-old.”

She said one of her relatives came and offered to take the children to safety. She was grateful she had agreed because minutes later the walls and roof came crashing down on them.

“The four of us, Anaseini Lavataki (45-year-old aunt), Maraia Makutu (39-year-old cousin), and Bubu were under the bed when everything fell over us,” she said.

“The bed later collapsed on us and this was when we decided to leave the house and seek safety somewhere else in the village.

Meanwhile, another aunt, 62-year-old Silika Degei was scared to go underneath the bed so she stood with her back turned to the wall. She was also brought down when the building collapsed.

“As we were struggling to free ourselves while lying face down, we could feel our body getting wet as the village had just experienced a big tidal surge.”

The four, Ms Lavataki, Ms Makutu, Ms Waibuca and Ms Degei managed to free themselves and headed for higher ground. But on their way up, Ms Waibuca could not hear her grandmother’s voice so she ran back to search for her.

Her aunt eventually convince her to get to safety.

“We had to wait until the morning so we could come down to look for my grandmother and that’s when we saw all the rubbish that had been brought by the tidal surge. All house foundations had disappeared.

“The body of my grandmother was found buried under debris and sand.”

She was later buried in the same grave as another victim from the village, Pauliasi Naiova.

The family has since built a new house thanks to Government’s Help for Home initiative.