Tropical Cyclone Winston Grinds Over Fiji

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Tropical Cyclone Winston Grinds Over Fiji - by Joshua Berlinger and Brandon Miller/ CNN/ World/ cnn.com

"(CNN)Tropical Cyclone Winston has made landfall on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji, said CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

The storm, which is the most powerful ever to hit the island nation, was tracked moving through the narrow waterway ocean in between the country's main islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.

"Batten down the hatches. It's going to get worse before it gets better," Van Dam said..."


Richard

 

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Fiji Hunkers Down as Formidable Cyclone Nears Main Islands - by Nick Perry, Associated Press/ AP/ apnewsarchive.com

"WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The Pacific island nation of Fiji was hunkering down Saturday as a formidable cyclone with winds of 300 kilometers (186 miles) per hour bore down.

Cyclone Winston was forecast to pass between the two main populated islands overnight. Many domestic and international flights had been canceled and authorities were urging people to secure their homes and not venture outside.

Fiji's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama wrote on Facebook Saturday that the island's evacuation centers were operational and the government was prepared to deal with a potential crisis..."

Richard

 

[taterhed]

I was just researching the WM Fiji this week at DW's insistence. Thinking about a grand-pacific tour in the future.

I sure hope this doesn't do to Fiji what Iniki did to Kauai.

 

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Record-Setting Tropical Cyclone Winston Re-Energizes as it Punishes Fiji - by Kevin Conlon and Joshua Berlinger, CNN/ World/ cnn.com

" (CNN)The most powerful storm on record in the Southern Hemisphere is reintensifying over open waters after making landfall in Fiji on Saturday evening.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar said Tropical Cyclone Winston weakened slightly after making landfall in Fiji at around 7 p.m. Saturday (2 a.m. ET), but now that it's back churning over warm water, its eye is forming once again.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said winds were clocked at nearly 162 mph with gusts at nearly 200 mph, and is expected to batter the popular tourist destination with heavy flooding, rain and damaging winds. ..."

Richard

 

[ronparise]

I have a guest at the worldmark resort now.. She is there with her kids, but her husbands flight was cancelled . I talked to her yesterday bit not since

 

[taterhed]

I think the island power is out

sent from my cell phone...

 

[pedro47]

Lets pray for the people on the island to be safe.

 

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Villages Flattened as Cyclone Winston Smashes Fiji - from Aljazeera/ Fiji/ News/ aljazeera.com

"Residents of Fiji have started cleaning up and assessing the damage after the most powerful cyclone to hit the Pacific nation tore through its islands and killed at least one person.

Officials on Sunday said they were trying to establish communications and road access to the hardest-hit areas, and would not know the full extent of the damage and injuries until then.

A 30-day state of natural disaster was declared on Sunday, a curfew was extended and police were empowered to make arrests without a warrant.

Cyclone Winston hit Fiji on Saturday with wind speeds estimated at up to 285km/h. It destroyed hundreds of homes and shredded crops. The worst-affected areas were along the northern coast of the main island, Viti Levu.

An elderly man in the village of Nabasovi on Koro Island was killed after the roof of the house he was in collapsed. Another person on the west of Viti Levu was hospitalised after being hit by flying debris.

In another village on Koro Island, 50 homes were reportedly destroyed.

Many, however, fear that casualty numbers will increase once reports come in from outlying islands and from so-called "squatter areas" where shanty-standard housing was unlikely to have withstood the category 5 storm.

Alice Clements from UNICEF Pacific was in the capital Suva when the cyclone hit.

"We certainly felt the impact of...Winston in Suva with destructive, howling winds and the sound of rivets lifting from roofs a constant throughout the night," she said.

"It is likely that smaller villages across Fiji will have suffered the most, given their infrastructures would be too weak to withstand the power of a category 5 cyclone."

Power, water and communication services are yet to be restored across this nation of almost 900,000..."

Suva, Fiji, ahead of cyclone Winston's landfall [EPA]


Richard

 

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Fiji Super Cyclone Kills 10 and Raises Fears of Health Crisis - by Jane Wardell/ Reuters

"Fiji began a massive cleanup on Monday after one of the most powerful storms recorded in the southern hemisphere tore through the Pacific island nation, flattening remote villages, cutting off communications and killing at least 10 people.

Aid agencies warned of a widespread health crisis, particularly in low-lying areas of the country where thousands of the country's 900,000 people live in tin shacks, after crops were wiped out and fresh water supplies blocked.

Many people remained hunkered down in hundreds of evacuation centers across the country, where they had headed before tropical cyclone Winston hit late Saturday, packing winds of up to 325 kph (200 mph).

"Many people have been left stunned and confused about what to do," Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said after declaring a 30-day state of emergency.

"This is a time of sorrow but it will also be a time of action ... we will reclaim what we have lost."

The 10 fatalities were all along the western coast and were caused mainly by flying debris and drowning in storm surges, the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation said, citing authorities. There were also fears for seven fishermen believed to be missing at sea.

A curfew in place for more than 36 hours was lifted early on Monday, allowing the Fijian military to ramp up efforts to reach the more remote parts of the archipelago of about 300 islands..."

Workers from Suva's City Council clean up debris along the seawall in the aftermath of Cyclone Winston in Fiji's capital, February 22, 2016.
Reuters/Steven Saphore/Handout via Reuters


Richard

 

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Fiji: Images of Flattened Villages Show Brutal Force of Cyclone Winston - from the Associated Press/ The Guardian/ theguardian.com

"Death roll rises to 18 as emergency supplies are deployed to communities worst-hit by strongest storm ever recorded in the region.

The death toll from a ferocious cyclone which tore through Fiji over the weekend has risen to 18 as authorities began to get a grasp on the scale of the disaster and deploy aid to hard-hit outer islands.

Authorities were still having trouble communicating with some areas, including places like Koro Island, which suffered some of the worst damage. More than 6,000 residents across Fiji were staying in emergency shelters after their homes were destroyed or swamped by tidal surges.

Winds from Cyclone Winston, which tore through Fiji over the weekend, reached 177mph (285kph), making it the strongest storm in the Southern Hemisphere since record-keeping began, according to the Weather Underground website.

Getting emergency supplies to the group’s far-flung islands and remote communities was the government’s top priority said Ewan Perrin, Fiji’s permanent secretary for communications. Home to 900,000 people, Fiji has more than 100 inhabited islands.

“The logistics of getting supplies and equipment to remote communities is difficult,” he said. “Some have lost their jetties and it’s uncertain if airstrips are able to be landed on.”..."


Richard

 

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Nearly 2 Dozen People Dead After Tropical Cyclone Hits Fiji - by Merrit Kennedy/ International/ The Two-Way/ National Public Radio (NPR)/ npr.org

"A powerful cyclone with gusts of up to 200 mph that ripped through the island nation of Fiji over the weekend killed at least 21 people, according to the United Nations.

Whole villages were flattened and at least four people were missing as a result of what the U.N. is calling "one of the most severe [cyclones] ever to hit the South Pacific." About 8,100 people remain in evacuation shelters.

The Category 5 storm tracked along the northern coast of Fiji's main island of Viti Levu, ripping the roofs off houses, flooding buildings and downing power lines and trees. The eye of the storm did not hit Fiji's capital, Suva, which is in southern Viti Levu..."

Debris is scattered around damaged buildings at Nakama settlement in Fiji, after Cyclone Winston tore through the island nation.
AP


Richard

 

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Fears of Disease in Cyclone-Hit Fiji Amid Race to Reach Remote Islands - by Alasdair Sandford, With Reuters/ News/ EuroNews/ euronews.com

"Aid agencies are rushing to distribute supplies in Fiji, ravaged at the weekend by Cyclone Winston which left at least 29 dead.

People in Rakiraki on the country’s main island waited patiently as boxes were unloaded from an aid lorry. They are the lucky ones; although most of the 900,000 population live on Fiji’s two main islands, many others scattered around the archipelago of 300 islands are much harder to reach.

Early assessments of the damage have been described by the Fiji Times as “not positive at all”..."


Richard

 

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Cyclone Winston: Tens of Thousands Homeless in Fiji a Week After Storm - by Oliver Holmes, in Bangkok/ Fiji/ World/ theguardian/ theguardian.com

"Tens of thousands of people in Fiji are living in evacuation centres after Cyclone Winston tore across the South Pacific country last week, the United Nations Children’s Fund has said.

The total number of people forced from their homes in the archipelago nation of more than 300 islands is expected to be much higher as many fled to relatives and are not included in the data.

Cyclone Winston, the worst storm recorded in the southern hemisphere, left 42 people dead, according Fiji’s National Disaster Management Office. The category-five storm also left many without water and it could be weeks before electricity is restored in some areas...




Richard