Tag Archives: Tropical Cyclone

Four dead, one missing as tropical cyclone causes floods in Fiji

FILE PHOTO - A view of floodwater from Tropical Cyclone Josie in Nailaga Village, Ba, Fiji March 31, 2018 in this image obtained from social media. Picture taken March 31, 2018. Naziah Ali via REUTERS

By Alison Bevege

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Floods caused by a tropical cyclone that brought torrential weekend rains to the Pacific island nation of Fiji have killed four people, with another presumed drowned, a disaster management official said on Monday.

Tropical Cyclone Josie, a category-one storm, caused severe flooding, with the northwestern town of Ba on Fiji’s largest island, Viti Levu, said to be the worst hit.

FILE PHOTO - A man collects water, after flooding from Tropical Cyclone Josie in Ba, Fiji April 1, 2018 in this image obtained from social media. Naziah Ali via REUTERS

FILE PHOTO – A man collects water, after flooding from Tropical Cyclone Josie in Ba, Fiji April 1, 2018 in this image obtained from social media. Naziah Ali via REUTERS

Four bodies had been retrieved and authorities do not expect that the missing person survived, said Anare Leweniqila, the director of the Fiji National Disaster Management Office.

“The death toll will go to five when we find their body,” he told Reuters by telephone.

He said 1,873 people sheltering in 35 evacuation centers would not be able to return home until mosquito spraying was completed.

“In two to three days people can go home after the clean-up and the vector spraying for diseases in the worst affected areas,” Leweniqila added.

The Fiji Meteorological Service warned of heavy rain expected on Monday afternoon in Fiji and surrounding islands, as Tropical Cyclone Josie moved away in a south-southeast direction.

Leweniqila said the authorities did not envisage any more flooding as the water level was receding even after heavy rain, but that road damage had been extensive.

Up to 74 roads were closed due to flooding.

In February, Fiji escaped without deaths or widespread damage when Gita, a category 4 tropical cyclone, lashed the country with winds of up to 275 km per hour (171 mph).

(Reporting by Alison Bevege; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Tropical Cyclone Pam Reaches Category 5

The South Pacific island of Vanuatu has been hammered by Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Pam.

The Island has faced 165 m.p.h. winds from one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded east of Australia.  The eye of the storm passed over Vanuatu on March 13th around 4:05 a.m., the first category 5 to make landfall since the devastating Super Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in November 2013.

Reports say that Efate Island, the most populated in Vanuatu, has suffered extreme damage from the storm.  There has been no confirmed reports of deaths, injuries, or missing.

Port Vila, located on the southwest part of the island, did not get hit by the storm’s eye and was able to stay online throughout most of the storm’s move over the Island.  The last recording sent by a weather station at the port showed almost 4.7 inches of rain from the storm.

Four tropical cyclones are currently spinning in the Pacific including one just off the western coast of Australia.