Tahiti airport reopens as flooding abates, rain alert still in place

Published 24/01/2017, 11:34 am
© Reuters.  Tahiti airport reopens as flooding abates, rain alert still in place

SYDNEY, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Tahiti's international airport reopened early on Monday local time after heavy flooding caused landslides and power cuts, displacing more than 1,000 residents from their homes.

The French Polynesia High Commission said four people were injured and more than 100 homes were destroyed when heavy rains hit the French Polynesian islands of Tahiti and Moorea.

"More than 400 households are still without electricity," said Frederic Poisot, cabinet director of the French Polynesia Haut Commissariat told Reuters, adding that army personnel were helping repair damaged facilities.

An Air France flight, which was diverted to the Cook islands, is due to land in Tahiti later on Monday. Dozens of flights had been cancelled on Sunday. (Tahiti is in the Western Hemsiphere time zone and keeps the same time as Hawaii.)

The islands remain on orange alert with the rain seen to ease by Tuesday local time.

France said it would immediately release a relief fund of 200,000 euros.

Tahiti is the largest island in French Polynesia with a population of around 276,000 and 180,000 tourist arrivals a year.

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