Fiji

The Category 5 Tropical Cyclone, which has now been downgraded to a tropical low, has made its way through the Fijian islands and is tracking away through open seas in the South West Pacific.

A team from Headquarters Joint Forces, responsible for coordinating the NZDF response, deployed an NZDF C-130 Hercules from Base Auckland to conduct an initial survey flight on Saturday 19 December. 

According to the NZ defence Force, for operational reasons, the surveillance flights were conducted by an NZDF C-130 Hercules rather than the P3 Orion.

The then-category five storm hit Vanua Levu and its surrounding islands overnight, flattening homes, bringing down power lines and stripping the land of its vegetation.

The National Disaster Management Office Director, Vasiti Soko, said more than 93,000 Fijians had been impacted by the storm as it swept across Bua Province and the rest of Vanua Levu before tracking through the central Lau islands.

Tonga has now issued a cyclone warning as forecasts show it tracking close to the islands over the weekend.

Many houses in Fiji's Vanua Levu have been destroyed, some families sheltered under beds and tables in their houses and others in cane plantations, as Cyclone Yasa wreaked havoc in many parts of the Northern Division, Fiji Village reports.

Buildings and crops were destroyed on Vanua Levu, Fiji's second largest island, and there's been widespread flooding and landslides.

Cyclone Yasa is due to make landfall on Fiji's two main islands this evening, with winds gusting as high as 350 kilometres per hour.

A nationwide curfew is now in effect and will last through the night.

The National Disaster Management Office said at least 600,000 people lie in the path of the storm, whose strength could rival the devastation wrought by Cyclone Winston in 2016.

The NDMO director, Vasiti Soko, said the time for people to evacuate was fast running out.

Evacuation centres have opened with the category five storm expected to make landfall tonight.

At least 600,000 people lie in the path the cyclone which packs winds gusting up to 345km/h.

The Director of the National Disaster Office, Vasiti Soko, said the people should either move into evacuation centres or secure their homes and clear loose items in their surroundings.

Soko warns the winds would be destructive

The cyclone on Wednesday was upgraded to a category five, the highest possible, with winds at its centre gusting as high as 315km/h.

It is still intensifying, forecasters said, and by the time it reached Fiji's main islands late on Thursday or early on Friday, it would likely be much stronger.

Its projected path would take it right over the two main islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, and disaster authorities were planning for as many as 600,000 people - 66 percent of the population - to be affected.

The public is being warned to prepare to be hit by a devastatingly severe cyclone with impacts to be felt late Thursday and into Friday.

Cyclone Yasa is a category five storm, packing winds of up to 315 km/h.

Its forecast track has it moving across the main islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu as it snakes southeast.

Fiji Met Service forecaster Steven Meke said the public needed to prepare for the worst.

"The impacts will be devastating for Fiji.

Cyclone Yasa is now a category 5 storm, the highest possible level, and there is a growing likelihood it will pass directly over Fiji's two main islands late Thursday or early Friday.

The storm is packing average winds of around 200 km/h with gusts up to 280 km/h.

Stephen Meke, a lead forecaster at the Fiji Meteorological Service, said ocean conditions were perfect for it to strengthen further and people should heed warnings.

"All the ingredients for further intensification is there," Meke said. "This is massive for Fiji, it will be very destructive for Fijians.

The man’s body was found floating in the Wainibuka River near Bucalevu Vilage in the province of Ra.

A boy who was swimming in the river spotted the body and alerted villagers on Saturday.

The man’s body was taken to the Rakiraki Hospital where his wife identified him.

The deceased lived in nearby Manu Village.

The High Commission Office is expected to release information about the deceased tomorrow.

Cyclone Yasa is currently a Category One storm with at least 65 kilometre an hour winds but was expected to strengthen to a Category Four system with more than 160 kilometre winds by Wednesday.

Sakeasi Waibuta from Fiji's Met Service said the storm was gathering intensity in the waters between Fiji and Vanuatu.

He said it bore a remarkable resemblance to April's deadly Cyclone Harold.