Fiji plans to bolster its early warning systems after flash floods caused widespread damage in the northern region at the weekend.
About 700 people had to be evacuated from rising water and given emergency shelter, Radio Australia reported.
Fiji's main tourist town, Nadi, came to a standstill under
1m of floodwater and the mayor, Salesh Mubalior, said businesses and residents were evacuated.
"All the shops around the main CBD have been closed and people are being evacuated and leaving the town," he said.
The Fiji Times said the Nadi weather office was warning more heavy rain was expected in western and northern Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, and residents in the western division had been told to take precautions.
In the 24 hours to 9am yesterday, 173mm of rain fell at Sigatoka, and more rain was expected before easing tomorrow.
A trough of low pressure over the western part of the islands is slowly moving southwest and could result in heavy rain in Navua, Suva, Nausori and parts of eastern Viti Levu. Landslides have been reported from the slopes upstream of Sigatoka.
The head of Fiji's national disaster management office, Joeli Rokovada, said early warning sirens for floods were being installed in Suva and two nearby towns, with similar systems planned for rivers in the west and northern part of Fiji, with the help of the European Union.
Overseas aid will pay for river gauges, transmission of data, and sirens to be sounded automatically when the water level in the rivers reaches a danger level.
Heavy rain has been falling for much of this month: the Fiji Sugar Corporation has made a preliminary assessment that 5 per cent of cane farms in the north were damaged by floodwaters last week and that houses had been damaged.
Health authorities gave a warning of possible disease outbreaks and have started educating villagers on ways to prevent outbreaks of diarrhoea.
* The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Wellington is monitoring the situation but has not altered travel warnings or taken any specific action.
A spokesman said the ministry had not received any requests for help. Nor had it received any advice about any New Zealanders being caught up in the flooding. Up to 3000 live in Fiji and about 1500 holiday there at peak season.
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