December 14, 2012

Cyclone Evan expected to intensify over Fiji

Updated 14 December 2012, 13:20 AEST
New Zealand correspondent Dominique Schwartz, staff
The storm which killed two people in Samoa on Thursday is expected to intensify over the weekend as it heads towards Fiji.
The storm which killed two people in Samoa on Thursday is expected to intensify over the weekend as it heads towards Fiji.
Cyclone Evan wreaked havoc in and around Samoa's capital, Apia, causing power cuts and flash flooding.
Hundreds of people were evacuated as high winds damaged homes and Apia's Vaisigano River broke its banks.
Samoan police said a number of children were presumed to have drowned after being swept away in the river on Thursday.
Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme's meteorology adviser, Neville Koop, told Radio Australia the storm was curving away from Samoa and the worst was over for Apia.
But he said islands in the storm's path, including Tonga, Fiji, and Wallis and Futuna were at risk.
Mr Koop said the latest forecasts had the cyclone moving across Fiji's two largest and most populated islands late on Sunday.
He said the cyclone would potentially be upgraded to a Category Four storm, with winds of over 200 kilometres an hour.
On Friday morning the cyclone was close to the northern tip of Samoa's Upolu island, causing waves of up to six metres.
Fiji's Meteorological Service said the storm will remain around Samoa for the next 12 to 24 hours.
A state of disaster was declared in Samoa on Thursday.
The US territory American Samoa was also preparing to be hit by Cyclone Evan, but so far has only been affected by high winds with no reports of damage overnight.

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