'State of Natural Disaster' declared as Yasa leaves 4 dead in Fiji
By
Adam Douty, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Dec 19, 2020 4:12 PM EDT
As Tropical Cyclone Yasa swept through Fiji on Dec. 16, powerful winds whipped through the area.
Yasa dealt a devastating blow to Fiji on Thursday when it made landfall as a Category 5 severe tropical cyclone with winds of 240 km/h (150 mph), according to the Fiji Meteorological Service.
As the storm came inland, a State of Natural Disaster was declared by Fiji's National Disaster Management Office. This State of Natural Disaster declaration also imposed a nationwide curfew from Thursday evening into Friday morning, local time, ordering residents to shelter in place to reduce loss of life.
Unfortunately, at least four deaths have been attributed to Yasa as of Saturday afternoon, local time. One person was confirmed to have been killed in the town of Labasa as a result of a partial building collapse, Al Jazeera reported. The Prime Minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, also confirmed the death of an infant from the Western Division on Viti Levu island. Two additional deaths were confirmed on Friday.
Travel across the island nation to provide aid was seriously delayed shortly after Yasa slammed into Fiji. As of Friday afternoon, local time, the Fiji Roads Authority confirmed that a total of 83 roadways were still closed throughout the nation, with 18 additional roadways restricted by some sort of debris.
Favorable conditions for tropical cyclone formation, including light wind shear and warm ocean waters were in place across the region and allowed Yasa to rage across the South Pacific.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasa making landfall on the island of Vanua Lavu, Fiji, as a Category 5 storm on Thursday afternoon, local time. (RAMMB/CIRA)
By Wednesday evening, local time, Yasa exploded to a Category 5 severe tropical cyclone with 10-minute average sustained winds of 240 km/h (150 mph), equivalent to a Category 5 major hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Yasa maintained this intensity until it made landfall on the island of Vanua Levu on Thursday afternoon, local time.
With this intensity, Yasa unleashed dangerous wind gusts and torrential rainfall across the country.
Through Friday night, local time, a general 150-300 mm (6-12 inches) of rain is expected to fall across the Fiji island group, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 750 mm (30 inches).
Additional rainfall will enhance the risk for flooding and mudslides across Fiji.
As Yasa continued to cross Fiji on Thursday night, destructive winds impacted parts of the country. Conditions across Fiji improved on Friday as Yasa pulled away to the south of the country.
Yasa will continue its general southward movement through the upcoming week and can eventually impact portions of New Zealand as a tropical rainstorm.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Yasa is a 5 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Tropical Cyclones in Fiji. This is based on the anticipated flooding rainfall and destructive winds, as well as a number of other economic factors.
In contrast to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which classifies storms by wind speed only, the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale is based on a broad range of important factors. In order to better communicate a more comprehensive representation of the potential impact of a storm to lives and livelihoods, the scale covers not only wind speed, but also flooding rain, storm surge and economic damage and loss. Some of these hazards such as inland flooding and storm surge in many storms result in more deaths and economic loss than wind.
The most recent system to make landfall in Fiji as a Category 5 Severe Tropical Cyclone was Winston in 2016. More recently, Harold struck Fiji in April 2020 as a Category 4 Severe Tropical Cyclone. Harold led to the death of at least one person in Fiji.
The area of low pressure that eventually became Yasa began developing near American Samoa earlier last week and it first strengthened into a tropical depression last Friday, while to the north of Fiji.
Yasa remained nearly stationary for several days while churning east of the Vanuatu coast. Due to the availability of a few favorable atmospheric factors, Yasa was able to rapidly gain strength into the middle of the week.
Yasa is the first cyclone of the South Pacific tropical cyclone season which runs from Nov. 1 through April 30.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Hurricane
'State of Natural Disaster' declared as Yasa leaves 4 dead in Fiji
By Adam Douty, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Dec 19, 2020 4:12 PM EDT
As Tropical Cyclone Yasa swept through Fiji on Dec. 16, powerful winds whipped through the area.
Yasa dealt a devastating blow to Fiji on Thursday when it made landfall as a Category 5 severe tropical cyclone with winds of 240 km/h (150 mph), according to the Fiji Meteorological Service.
As the storm came inland, a State of Natural Disaster was declared by Fiji's National Disaster Management Office. This State of Natural Disaster declaration also imposed a nationwide curfew from Thursday evening into Friday morning, local time, ordering residents to shelter in place to reduce loss of life.
Unfortunately, at least four deaths have been attributed to Yasa as of Saturday afternoon, local time. One person was confirmed to have been killed in the town of Labasa as a result of a partial building collapse, Al Jazeera reported. The Prime Minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, also confirmed the death of an infant from the Western Division on Viti Levu island. Two additional deaths were confirmed on Friday.
Travel across the island nation to provide aid was seriously delayed shortly after Yasa slammed into Fiji. As of Friday afternoon, local time, the Fiji Roads Authority confirmed that a total of 83 roadways were still closed throughout the nation, with 18 additional roadways restricted by some sort of debris.
Favorable conditions for tropical cyclone formation, including light wind shear and warm ocean waters were in place across the region and allowed Yasa to rage across the South Pacific.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasa making landfall on the island of Vanua Lavu, Fiji, as a Category 5 storm on Thursday afternoon, local time. (RAMMB/CIRA)
By Wednesday evening, local time, Yasa exploded to a Category 5 severe tropical cyclone with 10-minute average sustained winds of 240 km/h (150 mph), equivalent to a Category 5 major hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Yasa maintained this intensity until it made landfall on the island of Vanua Levu on Thursday afternoon, local time.
With this intensity, Yasa unleashed dangerous wind gusts and torrential rainfall across the country.
Through Friday night, local time, a general 150-300 mm (6-12 inches) of rain is expected to fall across the Fiji island group, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 750 mm (30 inches).
Additional rainfall will enhance the risk for flooding and mudslides across Fiji.
As Yasa continued to cross Fiji on Thursday night, destructive winds impacted parts of the country. Conditions across Fiji improved on Friday as Yasa pulled away to the south of the country.
Yasa will continue its general southward movement through the upcoming week and can eventually impact portions of New Zealand as a tropical rainstorm.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Yasa is a 5 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Tropical Cyclones in Fiji. This is based on the anticipated flooding rainfall and destructive winds, as well as a number of other economic factors.
In contrast to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which classifies storms by wind speed only, the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale is based on a broad range of important factors. In order to better communicate a more comprehensive representation of the potential impact of a storm to lives and livelihoods, the scale covers not only wind speed, but also flooding rain, storm surge and economic damage and loss. Some of these hazards such as inland flooding and storm surge in many storms result in more deaths and economic loss than wind.
The most recent system to make landfall in Fiji as a Category 5 Severe Tropical Cyclone was Winston in 2016. More recently, Harold struck Fiji in April 2020 as a Category 4 Severe Tropical Cyclone. Harold led to the death of at least one person in Fiji.
Related:
The area of low pressure that eventually became Yasa began developing near American Samoa earlier last week and it first strengthened into a tropical depression last Friday, while to the north of Fiji.
Yasa remained nearly stationary for several days while churning east of the Vanuatu coast. Due to the availability of a few favorable atmospheric factors, Yasa was able to rapidly gain strength into the middle of the week.
Yasa is the first cyclone of the South Pacific tropical cyclone season which runs from Nov. 1 through April 30.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo