SUVA, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The National Disaster Management Office released an alert on Thursday, asking Fijians to be prepared and take heed of the flood alert and heavy rain warning that have been issued by the Fiji Meteorological Services.

Fijians residing in low lying areas and squatter settlements should take heed of the warning and make preparations to evacuate to higher grounds well before flood waters rise.

A general flood alert is issued for small streams and low lying areas for the whole of Fiji.

Fijians should expect river levels on major catchments to increase apart from the ones that are already on alert and warnings.

The heavy rain conditions will continue in the next few days.

As an act of preparedness, Fijians are asked to check the location of nearest evacuation centers.?