Fiji began a massive cleanup Monday after one of the most powerful storms recorded in the southern hemisphere killed at least 17 people, flattening remote villages and cutting off communications.
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Officials had also put in place a nationwide curfew, giving police extra powers of arrest, but it was lifted on Monday.
Naziah Ali / HANDOUT/EPA The storm’s destruction is seen in Ba, Fiji.
Australia pledged AU$5 million (RM15.15 million) in aid to Fiji to assist in the immediate clean-up and has also offered to send military aircraft to help survey the damage, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in an e-mailed statement.
The Chinese embassy is in close connection with relevant departments of the Fijian government for disaster situation updates, Gu said, adding that China is willing to continue to provide humanitarian aid to Fiji and actively participate in its reconstruction.
Jonacani Lalakobau/AP Road workers remove a fallen tree blocking a road near Lami, Fiji.
But he said Cyclone Winston “has caused extensive damage to the communications infrastructure, hence, mobile and internet communications in some parts of Fiji may be affected”.
Fiji’s Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism Faiyaz Siddiq Koya said all visitors to Fiji were accounted for. The worst affected areas were along the northern coast of the main island, Viti Levu.
The U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center said gusts from the cyclone were reaching 350 kph (155 mph) and sustained winds up to 285 kph.
“The images that we’re starting to see roll in are terrifying”, Alice Clements, a UNICEF official based in Suva said by telephone, describing visuals of a auto on a building roof and a small plane nose down in debris.
Several islands of the country remain without power.
She said there was foliage everywhere, which looks like it has been put through a blender. Approximately 80 percent of the nation’s 900,000 people lost power.
Manager of news and sport at the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Indra Singh said there’s a lot of hard work that needs to be put in by authorities to get everything up and running.
NBC reported 483 people have evacuated their houses and are staying in 32 emergency shelters.
Worldwide tourists began fleeing cyclone-devastated Fiji amid fears the death toll is set to rise steeply.
Luke Rawalai/AP People are splashed by a wave whipped up by the encroaching cyclone. Flights were canceled and authorities urged people to find somewhere safe to hunker down for the night and to not venture outside.
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All schools will be closed for a week to allow time for the clean-up, and three universities will be closed until further notice.
