2 dead, thousands homeless after cyclone hits Fiji

[link to www.theage.com.au]


Two Fiji villagers are dead, several people are missing and thousands more are homeless after a tropical cyclone battered the South Pacific nation, causing flooding, damaging homes and trees, and disrupting power supplies.

Cyclone Mick, Fiji's first this summer season, ripped through the most populated island of Viti Levu last night and is headed toward Tonga, which has been placed on alert.

Fiji Meteorological Service said winds gusting up to 150km/h were recorded close to the Category 2 cyclone's epicentre, with winds averaging 90 to 110km/h.

Category 1 is the lowest cyclone rating, Category 5 the highest.

Mick was a "very vicious" cyclone with damaging gale force winds which struck up to six hours earlier than expected, catching many people unprepared, said Tim Sutton, of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), who is based in Suva.

"There's a lot of damage. Lots of trees down, power lines down everywhere, all the roads around Viti Levu are still closed with flooding and landslides," he told New Zealand's National Radio.

Tourists on the Yasawa and Mamanuca islands northwest of Viti Levu were reported safe, but Octopus Resort was forced to close because of damage. Some villagers had fled their homes after roofs were blown off.

Fiji's National Disaster Management Office has set up temporary shelters for more than 2000 people displaced from damaged homes and by flooding from the torrential rains.

The office said a student from Drala village in the Nadarivatu highlands died instantly when a tree fell on him, while at Sigatoka, on the west coast of Viti Levu, a young man was swept away by strong currents while trying to cross the Sigatoka River.

In the wake of the storm, Fiji's Prime Minister and military dictator Commodore Frank Bainimarama announced he will not attend the climate change conference in Copenhagen because of the damage caused by Cyclone Mick.