Fiji

A spokesperson, Ewan Perrin, said the number has jumped from 20,000 yesterday as communication has been restored to affected areas.

Mr Perrin said in the western division, there are about 22,000 people being housed in evacuation centres, and in the central division, about 16,000.

Miting ya I tekem ples long Wednisdei aftenun blong namba 24 Februari 2016 long wik ya. 

 Long miting ia, KbM i notem ol infomesen we Kaonsel pepa i putum i kam blong endosem, blong Gavman blong Vanuatu hemi diploem wan smol tim we Minista blong ol Foren Afea, Bruno Leingkone bambae hemi lidim wetem wan ofisol blong hem.

Chief Executive Officer of Digicel Fiji, Mr. Darren McLean says an early response is needed to help our country get back on its feet in this time of crisis.

The death toll from Saturday's category five cyclone stood at 29 on Tuesday, with more than 13,000 people believed to be sheltering in evacuation centres.

With assessment teams still working to reach badly-hit outer islands that number was likely to grow - with surveillance flights already revealing a grim picture of vast devastation.

ANZ CEO Pacific & CEO Fiji Vishnu Mohan said: “This is one of the worst cyclones to hit Fiji destroying many towns and villages as well as damaging vital infrastructure. It will take a long time for Fiji to fully recover from this disaster and we want our customers to know that we are here ready to support them.”

ANZ’s customer assistance package includes:

• suspension of all home loan, personal loan and small loan repayments for 60 days;

More than 2000 families have been affected losing everything when Cyclone Winston hit the island on Saturday.

Currently, Fiji Military personnel are loading emergency supplies for the island.

Military personnel have been deployed for eight days on the island.

Meanwhile, Fiji's regional partner countries say they'll be guided by Suva over how best they can provide help in the wake of Cyclone Winston.

The most powerful storm in the country's recorded history barreled into the Fiji mainland and neighbouring smaller islands late on Saturday destroying entire villages, flooding low-lying areas, and wiping out crops.

A New Zealand Defence Force Orion has been helping with aerial surveillance of the outer islands of Koro, Lau, Taveuni and Rabi.

Melanie Ogle, a New Zealander with Red Cross in Suva says Fiji Red Cross is a strong organisation and is already responding to the damage caused by Cyclone Winston. 

“Over 300 Fiji Red Cross staff and volunteers of have so far been mobilised to support at-risk communities and people in evacuation centres. Volunteers are trained in emergency response and propositioned relief aid was on hand.”

Red Cross has enough emergency relief stock prepositioned across Fiji to support 12,500 people.

The funding package will be a rapid release of pre-positioned stores and food items to assist people who remain in evacuation centres.

The supplies will give communities access to safe drinking water and basic hygiene for those who have lost houses and remain displaced.

This was confirmed exclusively to FBC News by the Divisional Planning Officer West, Sitiveni Tavaga.

Seven of the deceased are from Ra; one from Nadi and a 48-year-old from Lautoka.

Two of the seven people who lost their lives in Ra drowned during storm surges at the height of TC Winston – one of them was 97-years-old.