(Bloomberg) -- The death toll from the strongesttropical cyclone ever to hit Fiji climbed to atleast 20 as aerial surveillance of affected areas showed entirevillages were obliterated as the Category-5 storm roared across theSouth Pacific nation at the weekend.
|A state of natural disaster remains in placeacross Fiji as officials and aid agencies begin to surveythe destruction. In the eastern part of the archipelago, 150 houseshave been confirmed as destroyed, according to the United Nations’humanitarian affairs office, and photos taken by a New Zealandair-force plane posted to Facebook by Fiji’s government showed rowsof flattened houses, uprooted trees and felled power lines. Streetsin Nadi, the tourism-dependent country’s travel hub, were floodedduring the storm, though flights from the airport there resumedMonday.
|“Given the intensity of the storm and the images we have seen sofar, there are strong concerns that the death toll won’t stopclimbing,” Raijeli Nicole, Oxfam’s regional director for thePacific, said in an e-mailed statement. “Hundreds of people willhave seen their homes and livelihoods completely destroyed.”
|Related: Get ready for what could be a busy hurricane seasonthis year
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A tree lays across a road and power lines in Lami, Fiji,Sunday, Feb. 21, 2016, after cyclone Winston ripped through thecountry. Officials in Fiji are assessing damage in the wake of theferocious cyclone that tore through the Pacific island chain.(Jonacani Lalakobau/Fiji Times via AP)
|Tropical Cyclone Winston, whichthe Fiji Meteorological Service classified as being atthe highest level on the five-step Australian scale, brought windsof up to 220 kilometers (137 miles) an hour as it peaked overFiji’s eastern islands late Saturday and early Sunday local time,making it the most severe cyclone on record to makelandfall there, according to MetService, New Zealand’smeteorological office. While Winston has weakened to a Category 4and has moved west of Fiji, a flood warning remains in forcefor some low-lying areas. Schools are closed for a week to checkfor damage and universities are shut until further notice.
|Storm surges
|Akapusi Tuifagalele, director of Fiji’s National DisasterManagement Office, confirmed 20 people had been killed as a resultof Cyclone Winston, the Pacific Islands News Associationreported. Three of the deaths were in Nadi, and two other peopledied during storm surges in the northern part of Fiji’s biggestisland, Viti Levu, PINA said. Other reports indicated some of thedead were crushed by houses and debris. More than 4,000 peoplecontinued to take shelter in evacuation centers throughout thecountry, which has a population of about 900,000 dotted throughoutmore than 300 islands.
|Related: The 10 U.S. metro areas at the highest risk ofstorm surge
|“There are Fijians out there who are without water, without aroof over their heads, without food and without essentialservices,” Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said in a statement onthe government’s website. “It is our duty to determine their needsand provide them with the support they need as soon aspossible.”
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In this Sunday, Feb. 21, 2016 aerial photo supplied by theNew Zealand Defense Force, debris is scattered around damagedbuildings at Susui village in Fiji, after Cyclone Winston torethrough the island nation. Fijians were finally able to ventureoutside Monday after authorities lifted a curfew but much of thecountry remained without electricity in the wake of a ferociouscyclone. (New Zealand Defense Force via AP)
|Australia pledged A$5 million ($3.6 million) in aidto Fiji to assist in the immediate clean-up and has alsooffered to send military aircraft to help survey the damage,Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in an e-mailed statement. Atleast 1,300 Australians are registered as being in the country withthe Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Bishop told theAustralian Broadcasting Corp. on Sunday. Australia is advising allcitizens to avoid traveling to Fiji.
|Related: Here are 5 ways to protect your business fromnatural disasters
|The Fiji Red Cross was starting to ship reliefsupplies to stricken areas, according to Twitter posts. Ahmad Sami,the acting chief of the International Federation of Red Cross andRed Crescent Societies in Fiji, described it in an onlinevideo Sunday as the nation’s “worst disaster ever.”
|Winston hit outlying islands in neighboring Tonga last weekbefore circling back toward Fiji. At the peak of its strength,the cyclone generated wind gusts of up to 325 kilometersan hour, downing weather stations in Fiji’s eastern islands,according to Emma Blades, a meteorologist in Wellington atMetService.
|More than 20 people were killed in March last yearas Cyclone Pam, another Category 5 storm, hit directlyinto Vanuatu, about 750 miles northwest of Fiji.
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