Fiji hit by Cyclone Yasa at Category 5 strength

[Gert van der Hoek]

Cyclone #Yasa has hit Fiji's 2nd largest island, Vanua Levy, at Category 5 strength (South Pacific scale). Winds close to centre 240 km/h and gusts up to 345 km/h.
@FJMETservice
warning of significant wave high at sea of 14 m and floods, storm surge as #Yasa moves through Fiji.

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Fiji under curfew as powerful Cyclone Yasa makes landfall

Fiji's government ordered a nationwide curfew on Thursday, including a ban on public transportation, with a potentially devastating cyclone expected to unleash powerful winds and flooding on the island nation within a day.

Tropical Cyclone Yasa made landfall in Fiji Thursday afternoon, local time, slamming into the island of Vanua Levu packing winds of 240 kph (149 mph) equivalent to a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. This is the second time this year the Fiji archipelago has had a direct landfall from a major tropical cyclone.
Local officials have warned the potential effect of the storm could be devastating.The country ordered a 14-hour nationwide curfew from 4 p.m. (10 p.m. ET Wednesday) with people living in low-lying areas urged to move to higher ground before nightfall, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said in a video posted to Facebook.
"The impact for this super storm is more or less the entire country," Bainimarama said in the video.