Cyclone Yasa: Fijian islands in disarray from 'monster' storm, extent of damage unclear | Stuff.co.nz

Fijians and expats are rallying to support those hit hardest by Tropical Cyclone Yasa, as some villages are left to pick up the pieces where “100 per cent” of homes have been destroyed.

The category 5 cyclone tore through Fiji on Thursday night wreaking havoc on a number of villages.

Ninety-three thousand people were in the path of the storm, with those in the northern provinces, especially Vanua Levu, hit hardest. ABC Australia reported four people were killed, including a three-month-old baby.
Devastation caused by Cyclone Yasa in Fiji this week.

New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Fiji, Jonathan Curr, said there were reports some villages had 80 per cent of their houses destroyed.

In others, it was closer to 100 per cent, Curr said, speaking to Stuff from Suva, where they were “very fortunate” to have been spared the brunt of the storm.


While a lot of the damage had been infrastructural, crops – particularly sugar cane farming – had also been “severely” damaged.

“People have lost their homes, schools are extremely badly damaged.”

However, the extent of the destruction was still not clear in other parts of Fiji, where “we still don’t have proper communications yet”.

Relief supplies – shelter tool kits, tarpaulins, tents, chainsaws, water purification tablets, hygiene kits and solar lights – were on their way to the island nation to be distributed, as well as the humanitarian relief kits already on hand, ready to be deployed.

New Zealand provided an initial package of support, which included a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3 Orion surveillance flight which departed on Saturday morning, to assess the damage in remote areas.

While the cyclone had been downgraded and the "worst is now over”, warnings remained in place across certain islands, as the storm tracked south-east of Fiji waters...

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