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Cyclone Yasa has been downgraded to a Category 4 storm, but still has winds of at least 195 km / h with gusts of 275 km / h.
Tonga has issued a cyclone warning, as forecasts show that it will continue near the islands through the weekend.
Many houses in Fiji’s Vanua Levu have been destroyed, some families are sheltering under beds and tables in their homes and others in cane plantations, while Cyclone Yasa wreaked havoc in many parts of the Northern Division. Fiji people reports.
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Buildings and crops were destroyed on Vanua Levu, Fiji’s second-largest island, and widespread flooding and landslides have occurred.
There are widespread power outages and telephones do not work after 240 km / h winds, with gusts of up to 345 km / h.
Yasa heads south through the southern Lau island group.
The people of the Northern Division of Fiji described Cyclone Yasa as the most terrifying experiences of their lives.
Government of Fiji / Facebook
Downed trees block the Trans-island highway near the village of Lomaloma as Cyclone Yasa makes landfall in Fiji.
“It’s a nightmare,” said Banuve Lasaqa Lusi, a resident of Labasa, the main city of Vanua Levu. “The thundering sound of the wind and what is flying is what is scary.
He said that the sound of the wind was deafening and that the electricity supply and some communications in the town had been cut off; “I’ve never seen one like this … it’s heartbreaking
RNZ
Houses have been razed and people were left with their clothes when Cyclone Yasa washed away the island of Vanua Levu.
In Bua province, some people had to flee because their houses disintegrated in the wind. Bua’s video shows layers of torrential rain hitting the ground and roofs being raised by the force of the gale.
From Labasa, Lusi said that he had made some contact with the Bua region.
“People have seen their houses razed, they have escaped with their clothes on and they take refuge under beds, under houses while they wait for help … help that will probably come when the winds drop.”
On the island of Koro, south of Vanua Levu, destructive winds and heavy rains are felt in Nasau Village, and people have been relocated to two evacuation centers.
Panapasa Nayabakoro, who lives in Koro, said 32 people are sheltering at the Nasau Health Center and the rest at a school. He said that most of their houses were flooded and some of the houses were blown up.
A teacher from the Nacamaki district school in Koro, Ilisabeta Daurewa, said they are experiencing damaging winds and several kitchen sheds in the village have been blown up.
He said that more than 100 people were sheltering in six classrooms at the school.
The island of Taveuni, north of Koro, where more than 1,400 people spent the night in evacuation centers, continues to be whipped by the winds.
Ali Wilkinson lives in the capital Suva and said that the night they spent awake listening to the storm had been “terrifying”.
“A lot, a lot of wind and a lot of rain, it was quite noisy. It’s still quite windy, it comes in big gusts, you think it’s going to be quiet, and then it comes back and hits it again with full force.
“I have been sent pictures of RakiRaki’s staff and friends [district, north of Suva], and the city is quite flooded, it is practically under water there. “
The correspondent Lice Movono was also in Suva, and said; “It’s definitely not normal, but we’ve been relatively good.”
“What’s devastating is … talking to people on the ground in the northwestern part of Fiji, particularly in Vanua Levu, and then early this morning in the northeastern parts of Fiji. We are talking to people who have lost their entire houses, talking to people in evacuation centers that were also destroyed.
“At this point, people are still sheltering and waiting for safety, which should arrive around noon.
“The words are … scary, scary, people who live in houses where the roof was removed and then sheltered under the floor, whole farms just put up … a guy I spoke to said ‘it’s like the mountain is naked ‘describe the devastation of agriculture.
Emergency personnel will be able to assess the extent of the damage once it is safe for crews to leave, says the National Office for Disaster Management.
A 30-day state of natural disaster has already been declared.
Sakeasi Waibuta of the Fiji Met Service said the storm sat over Vanua Levu for three hours.
Waibuta said they were still awaiting full reports on the damage and that storm surge was also expected.
“At this point, people are still sheltering and waiting for safety, which should arrive around noon.
“The words are … scary, scary, people who live in houses where the roof was removed and then sheltered under the floor, entire farms just put up … a guy I spoke to said to me ‘it’s like the mountain was bare ‘, to describe the devastation of agriculture.
Most concerning, Movono said, was not being able to establish contact with people in Bua province, Vanua Levu, which became uncontactable around 8pm last night. She understands that a cell phone tower was destroyed during the storm.
Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said Yasa could easily overcome the devastation caused by Cyclone Winston in 2016, which has been described as the strongest storm ever recorded in the southern hemisphere.
He said the increasingly strong storms “are not normal. This is a climate emergency.”
