(AP Photo/Aileen Torres-Bennett). Cyclone Yasa Could Hit Fiji as Category 5, Cyclone Zazu to Belt Tonga. Fiji was hit by by tropical cyclone Sarai in Viseisei in December 2019. Authorities imposed an overnight curfew and declared a state of natural disaster. Authorities in Fiji have distributed 10,000 food packs to people affected by Cyclone Yasa, as the aid effort in the country's north gets underway. The tropical cyclone season in the South Pacific region runs between November and April every year and Fiji is expected to experience up to three tropical cyclones during the 2020/2021 cyclone season. Cyclone Winston was the last Category 5 cyclone to hit Fiji in 2016, which killed more than 40 people, and remains the Southern Hemisphere's strongest storm on record. 8 1 The Fiji Meteorological Service said Cyclone Yasa had intensified to top-of-the scale Category Five storm the winds are expected to gust upto 280 kilometres per hour (174 miles per hour). This video shows the cyclone just beginning to hit the islands, with conditions expected to worsen. Yasa is the third Category Five storm to hit Fiji since 2016, when Cyclone Winston killed 44 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes. Fiji was urging people near the coast to move to higher ground Thursday ahead of a nationwide curfew as the island nation prepared for a major cyclone to hit. and remains the southern hemisphere's strongest storm on record. Tropical Cyclone Yasa, currently the strongest storm on Earth, is headed for a potentially devastating landfall in Fiji within the next 24 hours. The severe category five Cyclone Yasa was carrying wind speeds of up to 240 kilometres per hour when it made landfall on the island of Vanua Levu, with wind gusts of up to 345kph, Fiji's meteorological service said. Flash flooding and landslides are likely in some areas, with the Government warning waves as large as 14 metres could slam the coast. Cyclone Yasa was expected to hit the two main islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu later Thursday or early Friday. Australia will deploy naval personnel and financial aid to Fiji following Tropical Cyclone Yasa. (AP Photo/Aileen Torres-Bennett) SUVA, Fiji (AP) — The death toll from a powerful cyclone that battered the Pacific island nation of Fiji last week … National Disaster Management Office director Vasiti Soko urged anyone who doubted their home's structural integrity to prioritise survival over protecting … UK and European Union reach Brexit deal ahead of crucial deadline, Royal Caribbean launches legal action against families of White Island volcano tragedy, This ladies team drew a crowd of 53,000 fans in 1920. It is urging residents to stock up on food and water, board up windows and move to higher ground if safe to do so. "People are not roaming around. It generated winds of up to 330kph at its strongest. News Fiji braces for Cyclone Yasa with 16-meter waves forecast. Every one of us must treat these climate-fuelled catastrophes with deadly seriousness.". The island was hit in 2016 by Cyclone Winston, and many still remember the storm that killed over 40 residents. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Sharon Bhagwan Rolls from the advocacy group Shifting the Power Coalition said women, children and people with disabilities would be particularly vulnerable. 'We've tried to help as many as we could': Communities put on Christmas lunches for coronavirus-hit families, Man who suffered broken leg during arrest secures $854,000 compensation. Australia will deploy naval personnel and financial aid to Fiji following Tropical Cyclone Yasa. Michael Cheer, who owns the Samabula Cake Shop, was moving cakes into his car so he could take them home and put them into a cooler, rather than driving them across the island to deliver them to another town. Mr Bainimarama said Yasa "could easily surpass the record-breaking strength" of Cyclone Winston. Fiji is hit by cyclone. (AP Photo/Aileen Torres-Bennett) But weather forecaster Neville Koop, director of NaDraki Weather service, said recent modelling suggested fewer people might be severely affected. “The dust is yet to settle,” … But this year's spread-out crowd could disappear into the MCG, 'Christmas is dead to us': Family of 20-year-old man fatally shot by police demands answers, Your best weather photos from the past year, China suspends Australian timber imports from NSW and Western Australia, Police investigating after woman on superyacht arrives in Cairns with COVID-19, What to watch in cinemas — or at home — from Christmas Day through to New Year's Day. And sits between Hawaii and New Zealand and Hawaii, Fiji has a population of 900,000 is in Southwest! Was expecting another strong storm until Friday morning pleading with you to move. 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