The storm has weakened slightly to 250 km / h (155 mph) and is expected to hit the ground like a strong Category 4 hurricane.
Local officials have warned that the potential effect of the storm could be devastating.
The country ordered a 14-hour curfew across the country from 4 p.m. (10 p.m. ET Wednesday) with people living in low-lying areas urged to move to higher ground before nightfall, he said. say Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama in a video posted on Facebook.
“The impact of this super storm is more or less across the country,” Bainimarama said in the video.
The U.S. Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warns that even well-built homes can suffer “severe damage” as a result of winds of more than 200 km / h (124 mph), while trees and electric poles could be demolished, causing more destruction and disruptions.
Yain would “easily surpass” the force of Cyclone Winston in 2016, Bainimarama said, referring to the most intense tropical storm in the southern hemisphere recorded, which killed more than 40 Fijians and left tens of thousands homeless. .
More than 850,000 Fijians, or 95 percent of the population, live on the direct road to Yasa, Bainimarama said, adding that weather forecasts predicted rapid flooding and “severe coastal flooding” that included waves of up to 10 meters (33 feet) tall.
Police would enforce the ban on public transportation, the country’s National Disaster Management Office said, adding that the country had declared a “natural disaster state” that gives police authorities greater power.
On Thursday, at 8 p.m. (2:00 p.m. ET), the center of Yasa was expected to be 100 km (62 miles) east of the village of Yasawa-i-Rara and potentially over the fifth province of Yasawa-i-Rara. Bua of Fiji, where 15,000 people live. , said the office.
Strong cyclones have become increasingly common in the Pacific in recent years, which Bainimarama has highlighted in climate change. Earlier this year, he said global warming was the cause of the worsening forest fires in Australia and the strongest storms in the Pacific.
“My fellow Fijiis, as the world warms, these storms are getting stronger. Each of us must treat these climate-fueled catastrophes with deadly seriousness,” Bainimarama wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday.
Additional reports by Angus Watson of CNN and meteorologist Taylor Ward.