Death toll from Fiji cyclone hits 18 as aid sent to islands

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – The death toll from a ferocious cyclone which tore through Fiji over the weekend has risen to 18 as authorities on Monday began to get a grasp on the scale of the disaster and deploy aid to hard-hit outer islands.

Authorities were still having trouble communicating with some islands, including places like Koro Island which suffered some of the worst damage. And more than 6,000 residents across Fiji were staying in emergency shelters.

Winds from Cyclone Winston, which tore through Fiji over the weekend, reached 177 miles per hour, making it the strongest storm in the Southern Hemisphere since record keeping began, according to the Weather Underground website.

Getting emergency supplies to the group’s far-flung islands and remote communities was the government’s top priority said Ewan Perrin, Fiji’s permanent secretary for communications. Home to 900,000 people, Fiji has more than 100 inhabited islands.

“The logistics of getting supplies and equipment to remote communities is difficult,” he said. “Some have lost their jetties and it’s uncertain if airstrips are able to be landed on.”

Perrin said authorities on Monday were sending a vessel to Koro Island filled with medical supplies, food and water. He said crews on the boat would build temporary shelters for those people on the island whose homes had been destroyed.

Perrin said the electricity network across Fiji remained patchy, and in some cases power had been deliberately cut to prevent further damage. He said clean water was also a challenge, and people were being asked to boil their water, treat it with chemicals or drink bottled water.

Perrin said most of the people who died in the cyclone were hit by flying debris or were in buildings which collapsed. A handful of people had also been hospitalized with severe injuries, he said.