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With Fiji’s northern division being lashed by devastating winds from Hurricane Tomas, the weather office says the hurricane is expected to intensify further.
Director of Meteorology Rajendra Prasad told FijiLive that people should take extra precautions and move to evacuation centers if necessary.
Prasad said with winds already at up to 90 knots (166 kilometres per hour), the hurricane may increase its intensity.
Places in the north to be the most affected by Hurricane Tomas are Koro, Vanua Balavu, Gau, Cicia, Batiki, Nairai, Wakaya, Lakeba, Kabara, Moala, Makogai and nearby smaller islands.
These places are expected to experience very destructive hurricane force winds with average speeds of 170 km/hr with momentary gusts to 230 km/hr along with frequent heavy rain and thunderstorms.
Flooding of low-lying coastal areas is also expected.
Tomas’ center is expected to pass Cikobia soon with reports coming in of devastating winds in the north.
“The hurricane is still on track as we had predicted and if it continues, the system will be passing Taveuni sometime in the afternoon before heading towards Lau,” Prasad said.
The cyclone center is expected to be located about 65km northeast of Taveuni or 290km northeast of Suva at 10 p.m. tonight and about 100km south-southeast of Taveuni or 215km east-northeast of Suva at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.
