Cyclone ian

Cyclone Ian moves away from Tonga, reports of destruction

Officials in Tonga have confirmed the first death from Severe Tropical Cyclone Ian as reports come in of widespread destruction on islands to the north.

ABC,

12 January, 2014

The full extent of damage from the cyclone is still unclear as the category five system moves away from Tonga and out into the open ocean.

The huge storm slammed into the northern islands on Saturday before moving on to the main island overnight.

Emergency officials say there are now receiving reports of widespread destruction to homes on the northern islands.

Tonga's director of emergencies, Leveni Aho, has told the ABC he has serious concerns for small islands near Ha'apai where communications have been cut.

"The picture comes to hand now, it was really bad," he said.

"I think it was 70 per cent of the housing of the two islands that we have access to now have been affected - destroyed or partially damaged.

"We have got some people sheltered in some of the evacuation centres, buildings and some of the churches."

With the storm moving out to sea, an aerial survey of the area is expected to get underway this morning.

In Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa, residents hunkered down overnight as Ian passed, generating winds at the centre of the storm up to 200 kilometres per hour.

The most recent satellite images show Ian tracking south-southeast away from the the Tongatapu island group, where the capital is located.

The worst effects of Ian were expected to be felt across the capital between midnight and 3am Sunday local time.

The most recent update from the Fiji Meteorological Service, at about 5.30am Sunday local time, says the storm is located about 200 kilometres east-southeast of Nuku'alofa and is moving south-southeast at 20 kilometres per hour.

As it passed Nuku'alofa, at its centre the storm was packing winds of about 200 kilometres per hour, gusting up to 290 kilometres per hour.

The Pacific office of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says Tonga's National Emergency Operations Committee met on Thursday to discuss preparedness activities.

The Tongan Red Cross Society has emergency response teams on standby and can access pre-positioned non-food items across five islands.

The New Zealand government has additional personnel at the High Commission to support assessment and response planning.

Military assets are also available for reconnaissance and logistical support if required.

Hotel manager, Kjell Stave, was hunkered down with his wife, child and six guests on Vava'u, which was hardest hit by the storm.

"I'm sitting in my house all boarded up. I have some small windows I can peek out and it's... certainly one of the highest wind speeds I've ever seen," he said.

"It was a category five when it came towards our island, but it seems like just a few hours ago, it veered a little bit west.

"So we could have been lucky here, not sure yet, but we could have been.

"There is a significant difference between being 30km from the eye and 50km - that's half the windspeed. So we could have been lucky."

Mr Stave told Radio Australia a "massive clean-up" will be needed once the storm passes Ha'apai.

"They don't have much protection. They may get some serious damage down there."

He says they have been able to feel the force of the storm, and his power has gone out.

"I can see some boats fetching and rolling about here," Mr Stave said.

"It's starting to build up some chop in the bay; we are fine, but we will have to see now."

Tonga 'lucky' to have escaped Ian's worst

Tonga's National Emergency Management Office says the country is fortunate to have escaped the worst effects of the early stages of Cyclone Ian after it passed Vava'u and Ha'apai.

"Yes, it's very strange how the eye of the cyclone was very narrow and yet so powerful," he said.

"I think we are extremely lucky with very little damage reported."