Fiji: A massive destruction on Monday after one of the most
powerful storms recorded in the southern hemisphere tear through the Pacific
island nation, killing 21 people, destruction remote villages and cutting off
communications.
Aid agencies warned of a widespread health crisis, particularly
in low-lying areas where thousands of Fiji’s 900,000 people live in tin shacks,
after crops were wiped out and fresh water supplies blocked. The Fiji
Broadcasting Corp, quoting the country’s National Disaster Management Office,
said 21 people had died and four were still missing at sea.
Almost 8,000 people remained hunkered down in hundreds of
evacuation centers across Fiji where they had headed before tropical cyclone
Winston hit late on Saturday with winds of up to 325 kph (200 mph).
“The death toll from Cyclone Winston continues to rise and
reports of widespread damage are coming in from across Fiji,” said New Zealand
Foreign Minister Murray McCully. “It is clear that Fiji faces a major cleanup
and recovery operation.”
McCully said a New Zealand Defense Force C-130 would leave for
the Fijian capital, Suva, later on Monday with relief supplies and an emergency
response team. The majority of the fatalities were along the western coast and
were caused mainly by flying debris and drowning in storm surges, authorities
said. A 36-hour curfew was lifted early on Monday, allowing the Fijian military
to ramp up efforts to reach the more remote parts of the archipelago of about
300 islands.
“The Fijians are desperately trying to repair severed lines of
communication, but they hold grave fears that the news waiting for them will be
dire,” said Raijeli Nicole, Pacific regional director of aid group Oxfam.
“Given the intensity of the storm and the images we have seen so
far, there are strong concerns that the death toll won’t stop climbing today
and that hundreds of people will have seen their homes and livelihoods
completely destroyed.”
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