Twelve Australians missing after cyclone Tomas batters Fiji
Posted by
JAC on 3/17/2010, 7:00 am
THERE are a dozen Australians not yet accounted for in the region of Fiji battered by tropical Cyclone Tomas, the Australian High Commission says.
"The High Commission has contacted 35 Australians registered in the northern division who are reported as safe and well, and is seeking to confirm the welfare of a further 12 Australians in the same area," a spokesperson for the commission said in a statement on Wednesday.
The category four cyclone ripped through the South Pacific nation, "completely destroying" at least two villages in the Lau group of islands, Anthony Blake, relief co-ordinator for Fiji's Disaster Management Office, said.
"The people are living in caves at the moment," he said, speaking from the Nausori Airport in Suva, where he was with members of the Australian Defence Force, preparing for their aerial survey tomorrow morning.
Mr Blake said shelter was "priority one" after preliminary reports indicated Tomas had caused "extensive damage" to the Lau Group in Fiji's east, and the northern island of Cikobia.
A state of natural disaster was declared in Fiji yesterday after gusts of wind peaking at over 200 kilometres per hour and massive storm surges forced the evacuation of 17,000 people and destroyed at least 50 homes.
An unnamed villager in Cikobia told the Fiji Broadcast Corporation trees were uprooted, buildings smashed and debris scattered everywhere as Tomas bore down on the small island.
The only confirmed death from the cyclone was of a woman who drowned in rough seas off the second-largest island of Vanua Levu as the cyclone approached on the weekend.
The High Commission in Canberra said there were no reported injuries to Australians in the area.
Boats left from the nation's capital tonight to complete damage assessments and deliver emergency supplies like tents and blankets tomorrow morning.
There are still at least 8000 people taking shelter in about 150 evacuation centres around the country, Mr Blake said.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules completed an aerial survey of Fiji's remote islands this evening.
Squadron Leader Kavae Tamariki said many homes had lost their roofs and others were destroyed.
"Quite a few villages look like they have been hit pretty hard," he told New Zealand website Stuff from the runway at Labasa on the northern coast of Vanua Levu.
He said they didn't spot many people, but "we think they have fled to safety inland".
Senior weather forecaster for the Fiji Meteorological Service, Matt Boterhoven, said Tomas had accelerated on its path out to sea, but "the thing to watch out for" over the next couple of days would be heavy swells, especially on the east coast.
The Australian and New Zealand governments have dedicated up to $1 million in emergency help to Fiji.
|
42
In this thread:
Post A Reply
This thread has been archived and can no longer receive replies.