Fijians told to seek shelter as super cyclone closes in
People secure their shop with wooden planks ahead of the arrival of super cyclone Yasa in Fiji’s capital Suva on Wednesday.
Fijians living in the path of an approaching super cyclone were told to hunker down at home or flee to emergency shelters on Wednesday, as authorities warned the storm has the potential to uproot buildings and cause mass destruction.
The Fiji Meteorological Service said cyclone Yasa had intensified to a top-of-the-scale Category 5 storm, with devastating gusts of up to 280 kilometers per hour.
It was on track to hit Fiji late on Thursday and the National Disaster Management Office said around two-thirds of the island nation’s population of 900,000 are in its path.
In the capital Suva on Wednesday, residents tried their best to board-up windows and storefronts, while others lugged bags filled with vital provisions through already flooded streets.
National Disaster Management Office Director Vasiti Soko urged anyone who doubted their home’s structural integrity to prioritize survival over protecting their property and escape right away.
“If you need to move to an evacuation center, we are pleading that you move before it gets dark,” she said.
Soko said cyclone Yasa was likely to have a larger impact than cyclone Harold in April this year, another category-5 storm that left a trail of destruction across the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga.
Category-5 cyclones were once rare but have become more common in recent years, with Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama among those blaming the trend on climate change.
“We can see the eye (of cyclone Yasa) and the area that’s of concern — it’s not just part of Fiji like Harold, it’s the whole of Fiji,” Soko warned.
