Costs assessed

Rebuilding homes for families on Aitutaki has now become the priority on the island which was struck by cyclone Pat two weeks ago.

Over the past week, tents and temporary housing were provided for those families who were left without a home after the cyclone.

Initial building damage assessments have provided valuable information for the rebuilding phase on the island, however a more in-depth assessment will be conducted to gauge the building material needs of each of the 68 families who lost their homes enitirely and for the 388 other buildings that were partially damaged.

Recommendations were made in the initial building damage assessment report for better constructed buildings as part of the reconstruction phase on the island.

The report recommends that inspection of structural elements to all buildings especially in the tie down system will need to be checked that they are structurally sound and will continue to perform in future cyclones.

The report also says that there may be a need to review the design wind speed forces of the Cook Islands Building Code with the likelihood of newer buildings to be designed to higher win speeds as experienced by cyclone Pat.

Building materials have begun to arrive in Aitutaki for the islands rebuilding phase.

Government is due this week to announce a funding scheme for reconstruction.