The biggest cyclone to hit Fiji in 20 years, Tropical Cyclone Evan, has caused havoc after battering the Pacific nation with winds topping 200 kilometres per hour (125 miles per hour). It has left a swathe of destruction across Fiji, Tuesday, 18 December 2012, after pummelling the main island Viti Levu for more than 12 hours, destroying homes, flooding rivers and stranding thousands of tourists.
Despite the damage, Fijian authorities have confirmed there has been no reported fatalities from the category-four storm as it headed out towards cooler southern waters and was downgraded a notch to category three. Cyclone Evan had killed at least 5 people in Samoa while 10 more people remain missing there. This neighbouring archipelago had no advance warning when the tropical storm struck.
Western parts of the main island Viti Levu, were the hardest hit, bore the brunt of the cyclone’s fury overnight, with the Fiji Times describing the township of Lautoka as a “war zone” in the aftermath of the storm. Witnesses said entire houses were blown away by the ferocious winds, leaving stunned residents to clean up debris from empty lots after they returned from evacuation centres. The tourist areas around the town of Nadi was also badly affected by the destructive winds but missed the capital Suva, which is located down south-east of the main island Viti Levu.
The Information Ministry said bridges were submerged by swollen rivers, high winds toppled power lines and roads were closed by landslides and debris. Almost 8,500 locals sheltered from the cyclone in 147 Evacuation Centres in the Northern, Eastern and Central Divisions, while thousands of international tourists, almost 3,000 of them relocated from outlying islands for their own safety, rode out the storm in Viti Levu’s resorts. The International Airport at Nadi was packed with people who had been evacuated from luxury resorts.
However, fears that Cyclone Evan would rival the deadly force of Cyclone Kina, which killed 23 people when it swept through Fiji in 1993, proved unfounded, largely due to extensive planning as the storm advanced. The Fijian authorities said there were only 10 reports of minor injuries and people had heeded warnings to evacuate early.
The Interim Government of Fiji (FIG) had communicated to the Diplomatic Corps and Donors that it would require international assistance. The National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) had requested immediate assistance with aerial assessments and evacuations and non-food items such as water tanks, tarpaulins, portable generators and shelter kits. The compounded damage or losses caused by the destructive Cyclone Evan must be devastating and overwhelming even though the full extent of the damage has yet to be determined.
