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Cyclone Gita: 'it's the worst situation I have been in'
13
February, 2018
Tonga's
emergency services are heading out to assess the damage after
Tropical Cyclone Gita left a trail of destruction overnight.
Defence
Force personnal clean up in Tonga. Photo: Supplied /
Solomone Savelio
On
Tongatapu, the category four cyclone brought winds of over 233km/h
which ripped roofs off houses, brought down trees, destroyed a
Catholic church, and took the Tongan Met Office and the national
radio station off line.
There
are unconfirmed reports two people have been killed.
Emergency
services and His Majesty's Armed Forces are heading out to assess the
damage this morning.
Graham
Kenna from Tonga's National Emergency Management Office said the
capital Nuku'alofa has been severely damaged.
"I've
been involved in disaster responses for 30 plus years and it's the
worst situation I have been in."
There
has been major destruction, Mr Kenna said.
"A
lot of the landmark buildings are extremely badly damaged or even
destroyed, the landmark tree ... near the palace, has been been
destroyed.
"It's
quite a bad situation."
The
armed forces were rescuing people throughout the night, including a
woman who was in labour and a man who was very badly injured.
Mr
Kenna said it was very difficult to get around Nuku'alofa and
although he only lives about 1.5km from his office, it took him 25
minutes to drive home due to downed power lines and debris on the
roads.
Power
and water supplies are out in Nuku'alofa and not even tank water was
likely to be available because many tanks had been blown over, Mr
Kenna said.
As
soon as the worst of the wind was over, the armed forces began to
clear the roads, said Mr Kenna.
"We
wanted to make sure that once dawn breaks if we needed to get people
to hospital we were able to do it."
He
said a curfew would remain in place in Tonga for the rest of the day.
The
fact that there was no storm surge because the worst of the cyclone
hit at low tide and that the cyclone did not last as long as was
expected were the only positive aspects, Mr Kenna said.
The
New Zealand government has pledged an initial $50,000 to assist
rescue and relief operations in Tonga.
"So
really it's just a matter of hearing from the Tongan government about
what their needs are, and we will be ready to deploy," Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern told Morning Report.
Fiji's
MetService said the category four storm was very close to being
upgraded to
the highest category, five.
The
US Joint Typhoon Warning Centre earlier said it was hitting maximum
sustained winds estimated at 233km/h.
Well-built
framed homes can be damaged in category four winds, and most trees
will be either snapped or uprooted and electricity and water outages
could last anywhere from several days to weeks after the storm.
Authorities
last night switched off the electricity for about 75,000 residents
who live on Tongatapu.
About
1000 families heeded the warnings and took shelter in evacuation
centres early yesterday afternoon.
Graham
Kenna said the New Zealand and Australian governments had emergency
supplies on standby and emergency funds were available.
"We
can hit the ground running. We're just dividing up our teams now so
that as soon as we can get out there, we're out doing an assessment.
"We'll
start in the city and then we'll fan out into the countryside and get
a full grasp by mid afternoon on what the needs are going to be,"
Mr Kenna said.
Cyclone
Gita - what you need to know
Latest trackmap from Fiji showing where #Gita is meant to be heading. For further updates go to http://www.met.gov.fj ^Cam
13
February, 2018
Tropical
cyclone Gita hit Tonga overnight, destroying a church and homes and
sending roofs flying.
Fiji's
Meteorological Service said Gita's central pressure overnight was
stronger than Hurricane Harvey when it made landfall along the Texas
coast in the US late August 2017.
Tonga
Unconfirmed
reports of two dead
Tongan
Met Office roof in Tongatapu ripped off, equipment affected and
offices evacuated
Winds
estimated at 233km/h - US Joint Typhoon Warning Centre
A
Catholic church completely destroyed
State
of emergency declared to help prevent loss of life and damage to
property
Capital
Nuku'alofa severely damaged, power and water out, many landmark
buildings 'destroyed'
Power
turned off for 75,000 residents in Tongatapu
Fiji
Gita
is expected to strengthen as it heads towards southern Fiji, which it
should pass over later today.
American
Samoa and Samoa
Massive
cleanup under way across Samoa and American Samoa
Fears
about sanitation and the spread of mosquito-borne dengue fever
People
advised to boil all water
Schools
closed
Emergency
teams working to restore power and running water to thousands of
households
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