The intensity of Cyclone Ana surprised many in Fiji which was hammered with 140km/hr gusts and heavy rain over the weekend.

The storm developed into a Category 2 storm after initially sweeping past the Yasawas as a Category 1 system.

It proceeded to cut a swathe through the northern and eastern parts of Viti Levu, including Suva.

As of Sunday the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) said a 49-year-old man had drowned and was the first casualty from the storm.

Five others were missing, including a three-year-old boy.

Correspondent Lice Movono, who lives in the capital of Suva, said there may have been a degree of complacency leading up to the storm.

“It was a lot stronger than we anticipated,” she said.

Storm ‘underestmated’
“I think that given we had been used to Cat Fives and Cat Threes and really everything above a Cat Three, I think that maybe I personally, and a lot of people, might have underestimated what a Category One storm was like.”

Movono said the fact some people were seen swimming or wandering around during the storm underlined this.

Earlier the NDMO had issued warnings for people to stay away from the water.

“We are in the midst of a cyclone with widespread flooding throughout the country, yet we continue to receive reports of members of the public, adults and children alike wandering around,” said NDMO Director Vasiti Soko.

The biggest concern for Fijian authorities seemed to be the floodwaters and burst rivers.

Lice Movono said many areas of the island had been inundated.

“This storm had been a Tropical Depression for a long time before it finally developed into a cyclone so it brought quite a lot of rainbands with it and so that had been concentrated in the interior parts of the island.

‘A lot of flood damage’
“We got a lot of flooding and a lot of damage from the flooding well before the cyclone even came into Fijian waters.”

A second cyclone is expected to hit Fiji’s main islands in the next 24 hours.

Tropical Cyclone Bina formed to the northwest of the country and its centre is forecast to go between Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.

It is expected to remain a category 1 system.

In the Coral Sea, Tropical Cyclone Lucas is moving as a category 2 system eastwards south of Solomon Islands.

Forecasters expected the Cyclone to reach New Caledonia’s Loyalty Islands by Wednesday.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Fiji’s national curfew enforced by the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) on Friday evening has been dubbed as thoughtless and the “height of stupidity”.

National Federation Party president Pio Tikoduadua said it showed the government’s “disconnect with reality”.

“When NDMO director announced the imposition of a curfew, she said it was with the concurrence of the Prime Minister,” said Tikoduadua.

The NDMO said a 49-year-old man had drowned and five people were missing, including a three-year-old boy from Lautoka.

Tikoduadua said: “Fiji has never, in 50 years, imposed a curfew before a cyclone because we have always relied on the good sense of our people to look after themselves and each other in natural disasters.

“After the weekend curfew announcement, there was panic buying and selling of goods while hundreds of farmers and market vendors rushed to sell their goods at a loss because their weekend business was destroyed.

“As far as we know, the curfew was not lawful because no legal steps were taken under the NDMO Act to support it and certainly government did not say they had taken any.”

Government ‘completely isolated’
Tikoduadua said the government failed to think strategically because it was completely isolated from the people.

“The people of Fiji are finding it increasingly hard to believe that this disorganised bunch of people, who just make it up as they go along, is really their government,” he said.

“They need to remember these events the next time they go to the polls.”

NDMO director Vasiti Soko apologised to the public over the change to nationwide curfew hours.

The curfew hours have reverted to the daily 11pm to 4am window after a shift in the projected path of TC Ana. On Friday, the hours had been changed by Soko in the Western Division to 12pm Saturday to 6am on Monday, February 1, 2020.

Curfew hours for the Central, Eastern and Northern Divisions, were to have begun from 4pm Saturday until 4am on Monday.

Soko said every decision made by the office was in consultation with the Fiji Meteorological Service and other stakeholders committed to ensure the safety of all citizens.

Apologies for the ‘inconvenience’
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused as the analysis we received yesterday [Friday] entitled that an announcement should be made and due to the revisions made today [yesterday] on the path of the cyclone, the Emergency Committee decided to revert the curfew hours,” she said.

She said there was no way to predict the path and nature of a cyclone and NDMO would continue to make decisions based on the current situation.

“As of when the weather calls for a decision, then it will be made, but as it is, we will continue to update the public about all the restrictions and movements.”

Luke Rawalai is a Fiji Times reporter.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Fiji villagers of Nacula in Labasa whose homes are under water after the Labasa River broke its banks this morning have been evacuated to the community hall.

Elderly people and children were assisted by men from their homes and were transported on boats to the village hall.

The majority of the homes in the village are now inundated with floodwaters as the high tide came in after 8am today.

Heavy rain and strong winds continue to be experienced here in Labasa.

We will try to bring you more updates from the north when the weather situation eases.

The Fiji Times reports that Tropical Cyclone Ana had intensified into a category 2 system overnight with sustained winds of about 50 knots (95km/hr) gusting to 70 knots (130 km/hr) near the centre along with heavy rainfall and thunderstorms over most places.

According to the Fiji MET Office in Nadi, TC Ana centre is expected to be tracking east-southeastwards at about 15 km/hr and exiting the central part of Viti Levu (from Nausori to Pacific harbor) from midday to late afternoon today and heading towards Kadavu.

The weather office says regardless of where the centre passes or enters, places around and close to where the centre passes such as Yasawa And Mamanuca Group, Viti Levu, the western half of Vanua Levu, Lomaiviti Group, Vatulele, Beqa, Kadavu and nearby smaller islands and Moala group are to expect destructive storm force winds.

Impacts possible
Significant damage to trees, weak structures and houses, heavy damage to crops, power failures and small crafts may break moorings due to storms force winds.

Rain and thunderstorms will continue o cause floods to fiji’s roads, villages, towns and communities near streams, rivers and low lying areas.

Expect very high seas and heavy swells with breaking waves reaching the coastal areas that may cause possible coastal inundation and sea flooding especially during high tide.

Poor visibility in areas of heavy rain and thunderstorms.

For the rest of Fiji
Expect damaging gale force winds with average speeds of 85km/hr and momentary gusts of upto 120km/hr.

Impacts will be minor damages to weak structures, minor damages to houses of very light materials in exposed communities, damages to crops and vegetation with trees tilting due to gales.

Timoci Vula is a Fiji Times reporter.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz