Cyclone Winston

Cyclones and Hurricanes are very frequently occurring events in the Fiji Islands. I have lived through many of them even in my 8 years there. As devastating as they already are, it is made much worse due to the infrastructure levels of many peoples houses outside of the main cities.

The worst cyclone in history to have ever hit Fiji was "Cyclone Winston", a category 5 storm with winds of 185 mph, which took place during the 2015-2016 cyclone season. It destroyed hundreds of homes and cut electricity lines. There are even reports of entire villages being flattened. The government opened around 750 evacuation centers to aid inhabitants in need help.

Power, water, communications, roads, and many other essential utilities and infrastructure had been cut off in many parts of the country, it even rendered many regions as not contactable. "George Dregaso, of Fiji's National Disaster Management Office, told the Associated Press that about 80% of the nation's 900,000 people were without regular electricity supplies."

Schools were shut down for weeks but the main airport was kept open in order to receive humanitarian supplies from other countries. Many roads were forced to remain closed due to fallen electrical lines and trees. The most pressing needs throughout the country after the cyclone was access to clean water, shelter, food, and electricity which continued for weeks and even months for some areas. 

The cyclone had caused many casualties/injuries of varying severity and killed 44 people!





Cyclone Winston wreaks destruction in Fiji - BBC News

Tropical Cyclone Winston causes devastation in Fiji, a tropical paradise | NOAA Climate.gov

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