Flights cancelled as Fiji braced for cyclone Winston

As the scale of devastation wrought by Cyclone Winston in Fiji becomes apparent today, Oxfam is preparing to deploy emergency staff to assist staff already on the ground, in what is likely one of the worst cyclones ever seen in the Pacific region.

The storm made landfall on Fiji’s main island Vitu Levu after the government-imposed curfew began at 6pm local time.

There are no other reports of other fatalities, and the full extent of the damage “is yet to be ascertained”, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Forecasters say there’s a chance the cyclone will today create very strong wind gusts around Suva.

Flights have been cancelled, evacuation centres activated and a nationwide curfew put in place.

Fiji is hunkering down as a formidable cyclone with winds of 186 miles per hour was bearing down on the Pacific island nation on Saturday, NBC News reported.

On Sunday, the storm should be just west of the main island of Fiji, before turning south and weakening.

A spokesman from the Fiji meteorological service told NBC that power is down across the island and even the meteorological service and the Disaster Management Agency can’t communicate.

“What we could expect are high winds, increased swells and rainfall that typically comes with a deep low”.

“This is the first time that Fiji has experienced a cyclone of this magnitude in their history, a category five, so we’re still trying to find out the figures”.

The airlines Virgin and Jetstar on Saturday suspended flights into and out of Fiji’s global airport, while the national carrier suspended all flights. He said landlines throughout Fiji were down, but most mobile networks were working.

“We will be having a meeting this morning to come down hard on these people as it seems they are not taking our warnings seriously”, he said.

Had it occurred in the Atlantic, Winston would have been a Category 5 hurricane, but because of hemispheric nomenclature, it’s dubbed a cyclone.

Fijian officials declared a state of disaster for 30 days beginning Saturday, then posted an urgent public announcement on its Facebook page urging people to take restrict movements and stay indoors, reported the New Zealand Herald, until fallen trees are cleared and power lines restored.

Fiji’s prime minister is calling for its citizens to be alert and prepared, as the country braces for what could be its most powerful storm.