Trail of destruction as Evan hits Fiji
2012-12-18 07:35
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Suva - Tropical Cyclone Evan left a swathe of destruction across Fiji on Tuesday after battering the Pacific nation for more than 12 hours, destroying homes, flooding rivers and stranding thousands of tourists.
Despite the damage, officials reported no fatalities as the storm headed out to sea early on Tuesday and was downgraded a notch to category three.
Western parts of the main island Viti Levu bore the brunt of the cyclone's fury overnight, with the Fiji Times describing the township of Lautoka as a "war zone".
Witnesses said entire houses were blown away by the ferocious winds, leaving stunned residents to clean up debris from empty lots after they returned from evacuation centres.
"The destruction this cyclone has caused is beyond words. Not one house has been spared here," Lautoka resident Melaia Waisele told AFP.
The information ministry said bridges were submerged by swollen rivers, high winds toppled power lines and roads were closed by landslides and debris.
Almost 8 500 locals sheltered from the cyclone in evacuation centres, while thousands of international tourists, almost 3 000 of them relocated from outlying islands for their own safety, rode out the storm in Viti Levu's resorts.
Fairfax New Zealand journalist Marc Hinton, who was on vacation in Fiji when the cyclone hit, said hurricane force winds lashed his resort for more than 12 hours.
"Everyone was hunkered down, the winds were so strong last night (Monday) you couldn't even open your doors, it was over 200km/h," he told the Dominion Post newspaper.
