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Subscribe to RSSThousands of residents in Fiji and Samoa are in evacuation centers due to the devastating rain and wind gusts of Cyclone Evan battering the island nations. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
More than 3,500 people evacuated to emergency shelters in Fiji as the biggest cyclone in 20 years swept across the Pacific island nation on Monday, three days after the storm killed four people and destroyed thousands of homes in nearby Samoa.
Tourist resorts on many of Fiji's palm-fringed islands have been evacuated and authorities warned people to remain under shelter as Tropical Cyclone Evan battered the country, blowing over trees and destroying houses.
Fiji, home to a population of 890,057, is slightly smaller than New Jersey and is made up of 332 islands, according to the CIA’s World Fact Book.
Authorities said Cyclone Evan had generated destructive winds, torrential rains and was likely to lead to flooding due to a storm surge as it passes to the northwestern side of the main Fiji islands of Vanua Levu and Viti Levu, with wind gusts up to 170 mph.
Fiji's weather bureau said Cyclone Evan was rated a category 4 storm, the second highest level, and was moving only at about 11 mph, meaning the destructive winds could last several hours.
Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama ordered public servants to stay at home and he put emergency services on standby. Hospitals and health centers have been closed for all but emergency patients.
Complete Asia-Pacific coverage on NBCNews.com
‘Every Fijian will be affected’
Power supplies have also been cut to some areas as a precaution against falling power lines, including in the main tourist town of Nadi. Airlines grounded flights to and from Fiji, stranding about 1,900 visitors in the country.
Fiji Ministry Of Information / Reuters
Strong waves caused by Cyclone Evan hit the beach on the Fijian island of Suva. Evan was the biggest storm to hit the Pacific archipelago in 20 years.
"I cannot stress enough how serious this is. Every Fijian will be affected but we must take preventative steps now," Bainimarama said.
Philippine death toll rises to 902 after Typhoon Bopha; 80,000 homeless
Storms of this strength hit the island paradise relatively rarely, with only 12 cyclones measuring category 3 strength or higher recorded in the past 40 years, according to Weather.com.
Residents and businesses stocked up on food and put up shutters to protect shops and offices. Major roads have been closed and authorities are warning that bridges could be swamped by flood waters.
Schools throughout the country were also being used as evacuation centers, with authorities saying more than 3,500 people had sought shelter by late on Monday.
The Fiji Times reported rough seas and ferocious winds had forced a bulk carrier to run aground on a reef near the capital of Suva.
Complete Weather coverage on NBCNews.com
Australia and New Zealand offered support to Fiji ahead of the storm and have placed search and rescue personnel on standby.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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I have no doubt, if this is the worst storm to hit in twenty years, that there will be many who end up injured, with a huge number of homes destroyed. With the tourist industry deeply affected, damage costs could be in the millions. I hope there will be little loss of life. But with winds at 170 mph,the storm moving only at 11 mph, and a storm surge hitting the islands, things could get very ugly. We saw severe damage of what a category 3 storm did to the Philippines with landslides from the higher land areas and coastal flooding when the waves were driven ashore.So many were killed by falling trees blown over and pushed down hills. What a category 4 will do, I can't image.I pray everyone will make it through okay.
Wind gusts to 170mph, cat 4 is sustained winds from130-156 mph, either way this is going to be devastating, I wonder what the barometric pressure is, it has to be 930mb or lower and only moving at 11mph, I have been through my fair share of hurricanes, I wouldn't want to be there. This will likely be catastrophic.
Never was in Fijji , i have been to pago pago in American Samoa and i have been to western Samoa. I really liked the south pacific . I believe my favorite place was the island of nuiway . Working ATON you see a lot.
Places most just dream about.
"Storms of this strength hit the island paradise relatively rarely, with only 12 cyclones measuring category 3 strength or higher recorded in the past 40 years....."
Twelve cat 3's or stronger in 40 years does not seem like a rare occurrence - seems like they would be commonplace if they have one every three years or so. Every adult would have experience with several. One every 300 years would be rare. One every thirty years would be 'relatively' rare.
mailman8 have you ever been in a hurricane, considering there have probably been multiple cat3 in one season, conditions have to be right, and then it is usually many seasons that you see nothing or nothing that strong, but these major storms are happening to frequently now. Take the 2005 Atlantic season perfect conditions, only time I have been through 2 direct hits and several outer fringes of major storms in one season, plus the globally elevated ocean temperatures make things worse this will be 15 South Pacific typhoons this season.
Many times , on land and at sea. So far so good. I have been blessed. I lived in pembroke pines FLA when Andrew decided to visit. I left there 2 months later ( when i got orders to a buoy tender ) for Hawaii and just missed iniki .
I survived all that and now live in Fla . We had four of them in one season shortly after i had our home built. I do not live in the city limits and the worst part was not having any power afterwards. I know it could have been much worse.
Does the news over sensationalize ? Yes
Can you ever fully prepare for a storm ? NO
Will i ever leave Florida to live some where else ? I doubt it.
I was in Plantation for Andrew, and I am still in the Ft. Lauderdale area, what we got from Andrew up here was nothing compared to Wilma, I did that whole season down here, I guess I am a hurricane veteran, I would do just fine without any more of them. Actually the news downplayed how bad Wilma was, and I agree you can never completely prepare for a storm, they are so unpredictable, specially with the tornado's spawned in them. Heard the freight train too many times during Wilma, also got a nice chunk of Katrina, Charlie plus a few others that season.
Yep, i remember that one . I forget the names of the other 3 . I am familiar with plantation . I was station in Dania 2 yrs on a patrol boat a 95 ft patrol cutter after which i did a 3yr no cost transfer to Air station Miami aka opa locka. Interesting 5 years altogether . My patrol cutter the cape current was the lead boat in the Christmas boat parade. That Christmas boat parade is the largest in the WORLD !
Since then i have been to other boat parades which were good even though they were smaller.
St. Augustine , Fanning springs and just last Saturday Ceder key.
I seem to be rambling , enough of my sea stories and such for now , anyways.
Nice talking to you. ;-)
feel free to visit this place if you want to converse some more sometime.
http://retiredcoastguard.newsvine.com/_news/2012/12/04/15680046-steel-beach-picnic