Category 5

Trail of destruction slowly emerging after Cyclone Yasa smashes Fiji

After reaching category 5 ‘super’ status on Wednesday, Cyclone Yasa tracked further north than predicted and made landfall over Bua district on Vanua Levu.

Save the Children Fiji CEO Shairana Ali said:

“It’s still too early to know the extent of the impact, but we’re hearing reports Yasa destroyed entire villages in the north.

“There are collapsed buildings, trees snapped in half and debris strewn all over the ground. Schools have been damaged and roofs blown away.

Fiji Met Service warns of destructive power of Cyclone Yasa

The public is being warned to prepare to be hit by a devastatingly severe cyclone with impacts to be felt late Thursday and into Friday.

Cyclone Yasa is a category five storm, packing winds of up to 315 km/h.

Its forecast track has it moving across the main islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu as it snakes southeast.

Fiji Met Service forecaster Steven Meke said the public needed to prepare for the worst.

"The impacts will be devastating for Fiji.

TC Harold strengthens overnight to a category 5

Reports from Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa say strong winds were being felt there and there were power outages in some areas.

Tonga's government has announced a State of Emergency because of Cyclone Harold - the second in a month.

In March the government made a similar declaration to help prevent the introduction of Covid-19 into the kingdom.

Late yesterday, in a statement, Prime Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa said as an emergency was about to happen due to the destructive force winds and sea rises caused by the cyclone, it was necessary to make another declaration.

CAT 5 TC Harold predicted to pass close South of Tongatapu and ‘Eua later this week

Director of TMS ‘Ofa Fa’anunu told the National Emergency Management Committee (NEMC) this afternoon (Monday) that TC Harold is now moving over Vanuatu and is predicted to head towards the south of Fiji.

He said that the cyclone is expected to pass close Tongatapu and ‘Eua on Thursday April 9 or Friday morning April 10.

“TC Harold was developed from Tropical Depression (TD) 12F in the Solomon Islands and was named by the Brisbane Tropical Cyclone Warming Center on Thursday, 02 April 2020 around 10pm local time.”

Cyclone Gita forecast to hit highest level category five

A massive clean up is under way across Samoa and American Samoa after they bore the brunt of the cyclone at the weekend.

Some parts of Samoa are still underwater as emergency teams work to restore power and running water to thousands of households.

Schools have been closed and there are raised fears about sanitation and the spread of mosquito-borne dengue fever.

The cyclone is now around 450 kilometres east of Tongatapu and moving towards the island.