State of disaster declared in cyclone-hit Fiji
The leader of the military regime, Voreqe Bainimarama, said although the full extent of the damage from Cyclone Tomas was yet to be determined, it had been devastating.
"It is evident that wherever Tomas has struck, the damage has been overwhelming," he said in a statement.
 A composite image released by the Nasa Earth Observatory on Februray 17, 2010 from multiple passes of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites on March 15, 2010 shows Tropical Cyclone Tomas raging over Fiji (R) and Tropical Cyclone Ului (L) boiling over the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. A powerful cyclone battered Fiji's northern islands Monday, damaging homes and crops and forcing thousands of people to flee to evacuation centres, officials said. Separately, the Solomon Islands, to the northwest of Fiji, escaped with less damage than expected as Cyclone Ului was downgraded to category four. Photo courtesy AFP Relief effort underway in Fiji after Cyclone TomasSuva (AFP) March 17, 2010 - Relief efforts got underway Wednesday in Fiji after Cyclone Tomas devastated areas in the north and east of the Pacific nation, officials said. The category four cyclone -- the second strongest on a five point scale -- was weakening and moving away from the south of the country, allowing surveys of the devastated area and the shipment of the first relief supplies. Communications with many of the affected areas were cut as winds averaging up to 175 kilometres (109 miles) an hour and waves caused by storm surges devastated many areas on Monday and Tuesday. The leader of the military regime, Voreqe Bainimarama, described the damage late Tuesday as "overwhelming" and National Disaster Management Office director Pajiliai Dobui said there were unconfirmed reports of a "few" deaths. "Those who have experienced other cyclones say this is the longest and the strongest they have come across -- and the most destructive," Dobui said. A state of disaster was declared for the north and east on Tuesday, opening the way for foreign assistance to be brought into the country. A New Zealand Air Force Hercules carrying relief supplies left for Fiji Wednesday morning and Australia and France were also preparing to give assistance. National Disaster Management Office operations officer Anthony Blake said late Tuesday there was a need for tents and emergency shelters, water containers and purification tablets and emergency morgues. Two Fiji Naval Squadron boats were due to take relief supplies to the Lomaiviti and Lau islands in the east, he said. |
There were unconfirmed reports of "a few" deaths in the devastating category four cyclone -- said to be the worst in living memory -- which struck Fiji's eastern Lau group of islands Tuesday, National Disaster Management Office director Pajiliai Dobui said. "I think some lost their lives but it is just a few," Dobui told AFP. "What we have been hearing from some of the islands is the devastation and the wind and the storm surges were too much," Dobui said. Dobui said he did not have further information on the reported fatalities, which required confirmation by police, but reports from islands suggested Cyclone Tomas was the worst in living memory. "Those who have experienced other cyclones say this is the longest and the strongest they have come across -- and the most destructive," he said. The only confirmed death from the cyclone was of a woman who drowned in rough seas off the second-largest island of Vanua Levu as the cyclone approached at the weekend. Cyclone Tomas cut a swathe of destruction through the north and east as winds averaging 175 kilometres (109 miles) an hour lashed the Pacific island group for a second day Tuesday. The main island of Viti Levu was spared the worst of the devastation but there were reports of extensive damage from Vanua Levu and the eastern outlying islands, officials said. Some villages in coastal areas had been inundated by waves caused by storm surges, Dobui said. A state of disaster was declared in the north and east of Fiji after the National Disaster Council, chaired by Bainimarama, met Tuesday to assess early damage reports, National Disaster Management Office operations officer Anthony Blake said. He told reporters 73 houses had been confirmed damaged in the north but the number was expected to rise sharply. The full extent of the devastation was still unclear as communication links with many of the smaller islands and isolated areas on Vanua Levu remained cut Tuesday. Electricity remained out in many parts of Vanua Levu, and water and sewerage services were also affected. More than 17,000 people had fled to evacuation centres by Tuesday -- mostly in the north of the country -- as the storm damaged buildings and crops, cut communications and power and flooded low-lying areas. On Gau island to the east of Viti Levu, Lamiti village headmaster Solomone Rasiga told Fiji commercial radio villagers sheltered overnight from fierce winds and heavy rain. "The wind is very strong, there is a lot of damage to crops," he said. Houses near the sea had been badly damaged and some small houses and outbuildings near a river had been washed away, he said. Cyclone Tomas was expected to gradually weaken and pass Fiji's southernmost island around midnight, the Fiji Meteorological Service said. Schools and government offices remained closed Tuesday and a curfew was extended until early Wednesday for all areas except the western region of Viti Levu. The international airport at Nadi, in Viti Levu's west, reopened Tuesday although domestic air and shipping services remained suspended.
March 16, 2010
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