According to the Fiji National Disaster Management Office, two casualties have been confirmed. This number is expected to increase.
Cyclone Yasa, a Category 5 storm, made landfall over Bua province on the northern island of Vanua Levu on Thursday evening, causing torrential rains, widespread flooding and winds of up to 285 kilometers per hour (177 miles per hour). hour) throughout the archipelago.
Fiji had declared a state of natural disaster on Thursday, had ordered the entire population of nearly a million people to seek refuge and applied a night curfew.
The alarm was largely addressed and as a result, humanitarian groups said it appeared that the initial impact of Cyclone Yasa was less than originally feared, although it was still widespread.
“We are very concerned about the safety of thousands of people who have experienced the weight of this storm of monsters,” Fiji Red Cross Society Director General Ilisapeci Rokotunidau said on Friday. “Early reports of volunteers reveal destruction in Bua, a province on the island of Vanua Levu. The coastal areas of many islands have been affected by floods and storm-level flooding.”
Images shared on social media showed roads blocked by landslides, floodwaters and fallen trees. All roads in Rakiraki, a main island district with about 30,000 people, were flooded, Fiji Highway Authority said.
“Communities need immediate help,” Shairana Ali, CEO of Save the Children, told CNN. “Some families have reported that they have lost everything.”
Ali said some families lost all their food during the storm. “They’ve had water and cookies for breakfast,” he said. “Our main concern is to ensure that people, especially children, have access to adequate food and clean water.”
Authorities remain concerned about heavy rains bought by Cyclone Yasa, although the storm has weakened sharply and is now only a Category 2 as it moves south through the island chain.
However, adverse weather has hampered aid groups’ efforts to send aid, with waves of more than 3 meters (10 feet) preventing Suva’s boats from leaving.
Strong cyclones have become increasingly common in the Pacific in recent years, as Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama and environmental organizations have highlighted climate change.
“This is not normal,” Bainimara tweeted on Thursday. “This is a climate emergency.”
Genevieve Jiva, the secretary of the environmental NGO 350 in Fiji, said in a statement on Friday that Fijians “literally fight for our survival.”
“Villages, houses and crops were destroyed so close to the Christmas season. Instead of celebrating, we now focus on rebuilding our lives,” he said. “That’s why I fight for climate justice.”