2nd death in Fiji storm

2010-03-19 08:20

Suva - Fijians cleaning up after a devastating cyclone discovered the body of a second victim on Friday, as military forces from three nations worked to find out the extent of damage to outlying islands and deliver aid.

Cyclone Tomas battered the north and east of the multi-island nation for several days starting last Friday, collapsing some homes and ripping the roofs off others, and cutting power and water supplies to some remote regions.

With communications severed with some hard-hit regions, officials are still trying to determine the full extent of destruction though Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama described the damage as overwhelming.

The Disaster Management Office said on Friday the second victim was a man who apparently drowned as he tried to cross a swollen river near the town of Labasa. The first victim was a woman swept out to sea last Friday by a tidal surge.

The South Pacific island nation has sent naval patrol boats laden with supplies to the northern islands that bore the full brunt of the storm, while Australian and New Zealand air force planes airlifted emergency supplies and continued surveillance flights of the area.

A nationwide curfew was lifted on Wednesday, but a state of emergency will remain in effect for 30 days in the country's northern and eastern divisions, where aid agencies say up to 130 000 people were affected by the storm.

Overwhelming damage

The storm, packing winds of up to 205km/h and gusts of up to 280km/h, first hit Fiji late on Friday. It blasted through the northern Lau and Lomaiviti island groups and the northern coast of the second biggest island, Vanua Levu, before losing strength as it moved out to sea on Wednesday.

"One village on the island of Taveuni lost all its houses, but there was no loss of life," Disaster Management Office senior official Pajiliai Dobui told The Associated Press.

While Fiji's north suffered overwhelming damage from the powerful winds and sea surges, Dobui said preparations for the storm meant "peoples' lives were not put at risk".

Dobui said some villages in the Lau island group lost up to 60% of their houses, especially near the coast where powerful waves surged inland.

On the northern island of Koro, seven of the 14 villages were badly damaged, said Julian Hennings, a spokesman for the island's Dere Bay Resort.

"Some of the houses have blown away. A lot of trees have been uprooted, some of the roads have been blocked off because the waves have picked up rocks and coral and have dumped it on the road," he said. One of four landing jetties was also severely damaged.

Emergency supply flights

Tiny Cikobia Island, home to about 400 people, suffered more than three days of hammering from the cyclone, which smashed houses, uprooted trees, washed away all local boats, and scattered debris across the island.

Power, water, sewage and communications were still disrupted in many northern areas, but a key airport at Labasa in northern Vanua Levu reopened for emergency supply flights.

Troops have been deployed to provide relief, including food, water and basic supplies.

A New Zealand air force C-130 plane that surveyed some northern areas found that "quite a few villages look like they have been hit pretty hard," squadron leader Kavae Tamariki said.

- SAPA