SUVA, Fiji — Heavy rain and strong winds lashed Fiji's flood-devastated western region Wednesday, where the death toll from the worst storms in a generation rose to nine and thousands of residents huddled in emergency shelters.

International tourists in resorts on the western edge of the South Pacific nation were warned to stay inside, as one major airline arranged an extra flight to get people out.

A woman who jumped into a swollen river to escape a landslide was the ninth victim of the floods, police inspector Erami Raibe said.

"Stay where you are, and take extra care. That's what we're telling everyone," said Patiliai Dobui, the head of Fiji's Disaster Management Office.

Scores of homes in the business center of Nadi and other towns in the west of the main island of Viti Levu have been inundated by a brown tide of rising water since the first of a spate of tropical storms hit last Thursday. Officials on Tuesday posted the second severe flood warning in five days.

"This is the worst flooding situation in the recent history of Fiji," Meteorological Service director Rajendra Prasad told The Associated Press.

Prasad said new widespread flooding would be accompanied by strong 55 mph (90 kph) winds. The rain was expected to continue through Thursday at least.

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"With rivers already spilling over their banks ... I don't expect the waters to recede for several days," he said.

The earlier deaths were six people who drowned and two who were killed in a landslide, authorities said. More than 6,000 people have been forced into emergency government shelters in schools and other public buildings. Sugar cane crops have been washed out, roads severed, and bridges submerged.

The government Monday declared a state of emergency in the hardest-hit western districts, where Fiji's international tourism industry is based.

There have been no reports of tourists in trouble, but Australia's national carrier Qantas arranged a special flight Wednesday to airlift stranded tourists from Nadi to Sydney.

Dobui said initial damage estimates totaled $12 million, but that figure didn't include the large agriculture sector.

In towns like Ba, many homes were submerged up to their roofs, he said.

"In Nadi, this is the worst flooding in the lifetime of most of the local people living there," Dobui told the AP.

China and near neighbor Tonga on Wednesday announced aid grants totaling $150,000 to the sodden nation. Earlier, Australia announced $101,000 for Fiji flood relief and New Zealand announced $59,000 in to assist relief efforts by the Fiji Red Cross.