Cyclone Gita

Elena Procuta was at a meeting with government and non-government agencies where conditions in evacuation centres were discussed.

Government figures showed 4500 people being housed in 108 evacuation centres around Tonga, since Cyclone Gita made landfall there on Monday night, ripping roofs off houses, destroying crops, and destroying a church as well as Parliament House.

Previous experiences had shown women and children could be susceptible to physical and sexual abuse when displaced by disaster, and Ms Procuta said protecting the vulnerable was a key priority in Tonga.

The director of health said the cyclone could have contributed to his death.

Tongan MP Lord Fusitu'a, who lives near the centre of Tongatapu, said another woman also died.

He told Checkpoint last night about an elderly woman whose house had "completely blown away from her while she was in it".

"She couldn't make it to the neighbour's in time and she perished, which is a terrible, terrible tragedy.

Cyclone Gita was earlier upgraded to a category five - the highest possible.

The office's director, Anare Leweniqila, said damage assessments were on-going, but so far there were no reports of casualties or injuries on Ono-i-Lau.

"We have only received reports of three completely destroyed houses and we are just working around trying to ascertain the nature of these structures."

Mr Leweniqila said it was unclear if the homes were Fijian bures, made of corrugated iron or wood.

It's expected to strengthen to a category five today as it moves towards Fiji tonight. The last time a category five cyclone hit the Pacific was in February 2016 when Cyclone Winston killed 44 people in Fiji.

Gita earlier hit the islands of Tongatapu and 'Eua as a category four storm, with winds of up to 230km/h.

A hurricane warning remains in force for Fiji's southern Lau group. Ono-i-Lau and Vatoa are expected to be hit with average wind speeds of up to 195km/h, gusting up to 275km/h, Fiji's Meteorological Service director Ravid Kumar said.

Currently there is full connectivity in Vava’u and Ha’apai and work to restore all services in Tongatapu is ongoing at pace.

The category 4 cyclone is expected to hit Tongatapu and Eua around 7pm today.

The government has declared a State of Emergency until 12 March 2018.

All the schools were closed today and some public and private agencies suspended their services as part of their preparations for the cyclone.

Evacuation centres in villages on Tongatapu are now open and the public is being urged to move persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups to the centres while there is still daylight.

In a statement, Acting Prime Minister Semisi Sika said due to destructive force winds and sea rises associated with the category four storm, it was necessary for emergency powers to be exercised in order to prevent or minimise loss of life or injury and damage to property and the environment.

Gita has brought destructive force winds and sea rises and is expected to be closest to Tongatapu by midnight tonight.

It is also expected to intensify into a category 5 cyclone with winds of over 200km an hours.

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.

Having caused widespread flooding and damage in Samoa and American Samoa as a category two storm, Gita had veered southeast and was forecast to pass close to Niue's east coast overnight.

The Fiji Meteorological Service, which is responsible for warnings in the region, said Gita continued to intensify, and would likely do so for the coming day.

On current forecasts, it is expected to pass very close to the island's east coast, possibly as a category three storm.

And Weatherwatch.co.nz says that although it's not completely clear if it will affect the country, previous cyclones have been deadly because of dangerous rips and large waves.

The tropical cyclone is due to form around Fiji or Tonga and, according to computer modellings, will intensify as it drifts west, possibly becoming "severe".

It's also claiming that it will "be a much bigger storm than [Cyclone] Fehi", which struck the Pacific last week.