Cyclone Winston Flashcards
Fiji Basic facts?
Location / Number of Islands
Population
Fiji is an archipelago of around 330 islands in the South Pacific Ocean.
Population of 860,000, most of whom live on 2 islands, either Viti Levu or Vanua Levu.
Cyclone Winston Basic facts?
Date
Category and Speed
In February 2016 Fiji was struck by the strongest cyclone in recorded history.
It was category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale with sustained wind speeds of over 230km/h.
Cyclone Winston Journey / Problems caused by this
It started as a small tropical storm east of Vanuatu and turned north-eastwards towards Tonga.
It strengthened over warm seas and did a 180-degree U-turn directly for Fiji.
This caused large issues for preparation as residents and officials in Fiji thought that the storm had missed them and when it turned around, they were then out of time to make an extensive evacuation and rescue plan.
Primary impacts - Deaths and Impacted
44 killed and 350,000 people were seriously affected.
Primary Impacts - Building Damage
4
Most of the damage was caused by strong winds that flattened houses, tore down power lines and destroyed agricultural crops.
Building / power line damage caused loss of communication between islands for days and 80% lost power.
Over 40,000 homes destroyed with 131,000 in need of immediate shelter.
Over 225 schools damaged or destroyed.
Primary Impacts - Total Cost
2
Damaged crops caused food prices to rise- agricultural sector lost over US$54 million.
Total damage estimated at US$1.4 billion.
Secondary impacts?
Most of these impacts are primary impacts although falling trees, small landslides some fires caused by broken electricity pylons and a few gas leaks would have negatively impacted settlements.
Also small scale flooding and storm surges caused large amounts of waste and debris to litter the islands raising some environmental concerns.
Pre-Impact Responses
Early warnings allowed for 700 cyclone shelters to be opened, suspension of public transport and military forces were put on alert.
Immediate responses?
3
The Fiji govt put the country into a state of emergency that lasted 2 months.
Telephone services were restored but due to extensive damage it took 3 weeks to restore electricity and after just a couple of weeks, all schools had reopened.
Large amounts of waste and debris had to be cleared for reconstruction.
Immediate Responses - International
2
Relief aid was received by the international community, mainly by governments and NGOs. This included both financial assistance and relief supplies.
After 2 days the international airport reopened, allowing emergency supplies to be airlifted from countries such as Australia and New Zealand.
Long term responses - Within Country
3
In February 2016 the Fiji govt supplied $9 million of financial support to over 40,000 families to assist in reconstruction.
In April the govt launched ‘Help for Homes’ which aimed to build houses for low-income families who were unable to afford reconstruction costs.
The organisation Empower Pacific provided psychological and counselling support.
Long Term Responses - International
5
International support coordinated by Australia, New Zealand and France under the FRANZ Agreement signed in 1992 pledging coordinated support in relief operations to South Pacific nations affected by natural disasters.
New Zealand supplying personnel and relief totalling over $3 million, including deploying aircraft and helicopters.
Australia provided immediate relief worth $3.6 million and also sent air support and emergency personnel to support recovery and reconstruction.
International aid was also received from China, India, South Korea, the EU, Asian Development Bank and the UN.
Also, charities and NGOs such as the International Red Cross and Oxfam raised money for people affected by the disaster.
