Fiji's government Tuesday declared a state of disaster as the first deaths were reported in the cyclone-ravaged Pacific nation where 17,000 people have fled to evacuation centres. The leader of the military regime, Voreqe Bainimarama, said although the full extent of the damage from Cyclone Tomas was yet to be determined, it had been devastating.
"It is evident that wherever Tomas has struck, the damage has been overwhelming," he said in a statement. There were unconfirmed reports of "a few" deaths in the devastating category four cyclone - said to be the worst in living memory - which struck Fiji's eastern Lau group of islands Tuesday, National Disaster Management Office director Pajiliai Dobui said.
The only confirmed death from the cyclone was of a woman who drowned in rough seas off the second-largest island of Vanua Levu as the cyclone approached at the weekend. Cyclone Tomas cut a swathe of destruction through the north and east as winds averaging 175 kilometres (109 miles) an hour lashed the Pacific island group for a second day Tuesday. The main island of Viti Levu was spared the worst of the devastation but there were reports of extensive damage from Vanua Levu and the eastern outlying islands, officials said.
Comments
Comments are closed.