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Cyclone Winston bears down on Fiji, with PM warning of 'ordeal' Cyclone Winston: strongest ever southern hemisphere storm hits Fiji
(about 5 hours later)
Flights to and from Fiji were cancelled on Saturday as the country braced itself for the arrival of Cyclone Winston. A state of emergency has been declared in Fiji as tropical Cyclone Winston made landfall on the country’s main island, with estimated wind gusts of up to 195mph (315km/h).
Winston was forecast to pass between the two main populated islands on Saturday night. Many domestic and international flights were cancelled as authorities urged people to secure their homes and not venture outside. The Category Five storm is thought to be the strongest ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, and is the strongest Fiji has ever experienced.
Fiji’s prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, said on Saturday that the island’s evacuation centres were operational and the government was prepared to deal with a potential crisis. The cyclone began to make landfall on the main island of Vitu Levu after a national curfew took effect at 6pm local time. It had earlier sunk boats and caused flash flooding on the nation’s outer islands, including Vanua Levu.
“As a nation we are facing an ordeal of the most grievous kind,” he wrote. “We must stick together as a people and look after each other.” It is carrying average winds of 220km/h, with gusts of up to 315km/h recorded, according to Fiji’s Meteorological Service.
The US government’s typhoon warning centre said gusts from the cyclone were reaching 360km/h (224mph). The Fijian government issued a list of 758 evacuation centres across the nation of just under 900,000 people. The country’s prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, said on Saturday that the island’s evacuation centres were operational and the government was prepared to deal with a potential crisis.
The Fiji Times newspaper reported some damage, including a roof being blown off one home, from some of the nation’s smaller islands to the east as the cyclone began to strike there. “As a nation we are facing an ordeal of the most grievous kind,” he wrote on Facebook. “We must stick together as a people and look after each other.”
In a later statement, Bainimarama said that the nation was “facing an ordeal of the most grievous kind”. He added: “We must stick together as a people and look after each other. Be alert and be prepared.”
ABC also quoted the prime minister expressing concerns that some people in urban areas did not appear to have heeded the warnings about the seriousness of the threat.
International flights to and from Fiji have been cancelled. As the country’s weather service warned people in the east to “expect very destructive hurricane-force winds”, Suva resident Alice Clements said the power had failed just after 5pm and she expected water supplies to be hit next.
“I have palm trees flying all around me at the moment,” Clements, an official with a UN agency, told Reuters.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Winston was following a path that might spare Suva the full force of its winds. Category five is the highest ranking on the hurricane wind scale.
“The cyclone has tracked further north than expected over the past 24 hours,” the UN agency said.
The Fiji Times newspaper reported some damage, including a roof being blown off one home, from some of the nation’s smaller islands to the east as the cyclone began to strike there. It said there had been a run on supermarkets and stores as people stocked up on essential supplies.
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The Times said there had been a run on supermarkets and stores as people stocked up on essential supplies, while a 5pm curfew had been placed on all public transportation, including buses, minibuses and taxis. Many people were hoping the cyclone’s path would remain as forecast and thread between the islands of Vanua Levu to the north and Vitu Levu to the south, which is home to the capital Suva, so that both islands would avoid a direct hit.
Many people were hoping the cyclone’s path would remain as forecast and thread between the islands of Vanua Levu to the north and Vitu Levu to the south, which is home to the capital Suva, so that both islands would avoid a direct hit. Fiji is home to about 900,000 people.
Airlines operating in the region including Virgin Australia, Jetstar, Qantas and Fiji Airways all reported cancelled flights or altered timetables, with passengers told to consult their carrier for information.Airlines operating in the region including Virgin Australia, Jetstar, Qantas and Fiji Airways all reported cancelled flights or altered timetables, with passengers told to consult their carrier for information.
Winston, which has intensified to a category-five storm, has already lashed Tonga.
With the Associated Press and AAP