I have faith.

These were the last words of 69-year-old, Charles Brooke Hill who died when a partition of a four-room building at Yadua Village School in Bua fell on him.

The late Charles Brooke Hill.

He was sheltering there with seven other families on Thursday night when Cyclone Yasa made its way into the village.

Yadua Village School head teacher, Josaia Natuilagilagi said he was with Mr Hill at the time the effects of Cyclone Yasa continued to destroy each of the 17 homes including the school building in the village.

There is a total of 177 villagers on the island.

“He was stuck, I was with him when he died,” said Mr Natuilagilagi.

Yadua Village School head teacher, Josaia Natuilagilagi points at the partition that fell on Charles Brooke Hill while he was taking shelter at the school.

“I can recall, I looked at him and told him to have faith, he said ‘I have faith’, all of a sudden one of the partitions fell on him.”

Meanwhile, Mr Natuilagilagi said the villagers were in dire need of food and water.

He said the available root crops like cassava which the teachers had planted would be only enough for the next two to three days to cater for the whole village.

Mr Natuilagilagi said a total of 17 homes had been destroyed.

“For now, most families have nothing,” he said.

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