Hurricane force winds and torrential rain have destroyed scores of houses and flattened crops in Fiji’s northern regions, aid agencies said on Friday, though early assessments suggest only minimal casualties.
Cyclone Yasa, a category five storm, made landfall over Bua province on the northern island of Vanua Levu on Thursday evening, bringing torrential rain, widespread flooding and winds of up to 285 km per hour.
Fiji’s National Disaster Management Office is reporting that two people have so far died during the cyclone.
Save the Children Fiji chief executive Shairana Ali said that, while the capital of Suva dodged the worst of the storm, there are concerns for the remote regions of the country that have limited network connection.
“We are slowly getting reports from those remote areas and they are saying that they have never experienced anything like this type of cyclone which lingered in Vanua Levu for almost four hours…the eye of the storm went directly over them,” Ms Ali told SBS News.
“The worst for Fiji is over but now it’s all hands on deck to facilitate a recovery.”
Ms Ali said that Save the Children is especially concerned for young Fijians who may never have experienced a cyclone before.
“The children have never experienced anything of this nature and what we are hearing from our contacts on the ground, many children have been psychologically affected and this trauma will stay with them.
“We are trying our best to provide psycho-social support and counselling.”
Plan International has also been working with their local affiliates to determine the extent of the damage across Fiji and to distribute essential relief to the thousands of households impacted.
Plan International’s Pacific disaster risk management coordinator Josefa Lalabalavu said the organisation is assessing how to help the most vulnerable, including people living with a disability and families living in poverty.
“Based on initial reports from Plan International Fiji this morning, Suva has been spared the brunt of the impact, however, many other locations were less fortunate,” Mr Lalabalavu said.
“In rural areas like the province of Bua, on the southern tip of Fiji’s second largest island, Vanua Levu, many homes were destroyed.
“People from at least one community evacuation centre had to find shelter elsewhere as the centre was no longer safe… another community spent the night sheltering in nearby caves.”
He said the fear is now for the welfare of people living in smaller more exposed islands in the east.
“There is widespread damage and inundation,” he said.
State of Natural Disaster
Fiji had on Thursday declared a state of natural disaster, ordering its entire population of nearly one million people to seek shelter and implemented a nightly curfew.
Humanitarian groups said it appeared the initial impact of Cyclone Yasa was less than originally feared, though still extensive.
A NASA photo shows the Category Five Cyclone Yasa, northwest of Fiji’s Viti Levu island.
NASA
“Villages in Vanua Levu have lost a lot of houses. The wind has flattened many community buildings and crops have been flattened,” Fiji Red Cross Society Director-General Ilisapeci Rokotunidau told Reuters.
Images shared on social media showed roads blocked by landslides, floodwaters and fallen trees.
All roads in Rakiraki, a district on the main island with about 30,000 residents, were flooded, Fiji’s Road Authority said.
Authorities remain concerned about heavy rains bought by Cyclone Yasa, though the storm has weakened in strength and is now just a category two as it moves south across the island chain.
Still, the adverse weather has hampered efforts by aid groups to dispatch assistance, with waves of more than 3 metres preventing ships leaving Suva.
Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said with treacherous conditions, the country’s citizens must remain vigilant.
