Published: April 8, 2020
Images of the aftermath of Cyclone Harold in the Pacific island nation of Fiji show damage to homes and buildings as emergency officials work to assess the impacts there after the powerful storm lashed the country Wednesday.
Cell phone service was knocked out in some areas, compounding the challenge of communications with more remote areas. Fiji's National Disaster Management Office is asking anyone who may have been able to contact family members on the island of Kadavu, southern Lau and smaller nearby islands, to pass on any reports of damage.
The agency said 1,778 people were still sheltering in 69 evacuation centers as of early Wednesday morning ET, or Thursday evening local time. At least three people were injured near the town of Nausori, south of the capital city of Suva on the country's main island. One was taken to a hospital.
"Please continue to exercise caution while traveling on the road," the agency director, Vasiti Soko, said in a new release. "We are working closely with our first responders to assist our people who are still sheltering in evacuation centers."
Now this is a huge one! Ministry of Forestry staff in the Central Eastern Division planning on how to clear this debris from our roads.
#LetsGoVoresi#TogetherWeCan#
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The Pacific Disaster Center said about 545,000 people live in the affected areas in Fiji, with nearly 200,000 in the areas hit hardest.
Local residents said high winds moved through an area just north of the capital city of Suva at about 4 a.m. Wednesday local time, or around noon Tuesday ET.
“So we came across sort of a round of wind across our house," Siddharth Ansh told FBC News. "I told my mum that something is there. So when we came outside we heard a big round of type of wind and it just blew all the houses and all the utensils and everything just fell and broke and after that a big tree fell and messed up our house.”
People have been hurt and homes damaged by what is believed to be a tornado that hit parts of Nausori and Tailevu early this morning.#FBCNews #FijiNews #Fiji #FJUnited
More: fbcnews.com.fj/news/natural-d…
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The capital city is on the island of Viti Levu, the country's largest island and most heavily populated. The entire island was reportedly without power.
Damaged homes and injuries were also reported in at least one other nearby community, according to FBC.
The storm was expected to pass close to Tonga later today.
Information is also still scarce about the impacts of Harold in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, where On Monday, a strong Cyclone Harold slashed across the Pacific island nation.
The United Nations Office of Humanitarian Assistance sent two aerial reconnaissance planes to the area on Tuesday. The agency said at least 112,000 people in Vanuatu were potentially in the path of the storm. Cell phone service and power were knocked out.
Harold made landfall as a Category 4 storm on the east coast of Espiritu Santo island on Monday morning before heading for Vanuatu's second-largest city, Luganville.
Images from Luganville on Espiritu Santo island showed roofs blown off and buildings collapsed. So far, no injuries have been reported in Vanuatu, according to BBC.com.
#Vanuatu #TCHarold #CycloneHarold Destruction on one of many islands #MaloIsland. Communication outages hinder an assessment of the widespread damage which has certainly occurred.
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Eric Durpaire, the chief of Vanuatu’s field office for UNICEF Pacific, told the Guardian, "Communications to Santo and Malekula [the island south of Espiritu Santo] are cut now, so we don’t know what’s happening. The latest information we had was that the roof of the municipality building of Santo has collapsed and there is flooding."
Jacqueline de Gaillande, chief executive of Vanuatu Red Cross, told Reuters, "There is lots of damage in Sanma, they lost lots of buildings."
Sanma is the province that encompasses the island of Espiritu Santo.
#CycloneHarold #Vanuatu #TCHarold #Santo First images coming in from main street of #Luganville on Espiritu Santo island which is experiencing the full force of Harold.
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The Vanuatu meteorology department recorded winds of 135 mph there but said gusts were reaching 145 mph, BBC.com reported.
Vanuatu is one of the few countries that has yet to report a confirmed case of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus. The country declared a state of emergency last month.
#CycloneHarold #TCHarold #Vanuatu Dangerous seas this morning a precursor to the arrival of Harold on #EkenIsland . Credit Ryry Titus
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"Restrictions to international borders and travelers won’t be lifted after the cyclone. Humanitarian workers who wanted to come and assist, won’t be able to, or they will have to do 14 days quarantine," said Durpaire, the UNICEF official.
"A significant disaster at this time could present serious logistical challenges to delivering life-saving aid, while adding to the significant economic and social toll the global pandemic has already taken on the country," Elizabeth Faerua, Oxfam in Vanuatu country director, told the Guardian.
As the cyclone passed south of the Solomon Islands on Friday, more than two dozen people were swept off a ferry in heavy seas.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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