Just days afterhitting Vanuatu , Cyclone Harold come across Fiji on Wednesday . These island nations are coping with fallout fromcoronavirus pandemic , but that does n’t mean extreme weather will take it tardily on those in its way . That ’s certainly been the case with this monster cyclone .
The violent storm firstwreaked havocin the Solomon Islands , where it took over a ferry with 28 people on circuit card . Then , it pommel the island nation of Vanuatu with winds of up to 133 mile per hour Monday . The storm briefly attained Category 5 status after clear over Vanuatu before dipping back to a still - dangerous Category 4 storm as it approached Fiji .
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center puts its maximum sustained idle words swiftness at 140 miles per hour by the time the cyclone make it in southern Fiji on Wednesday afternoon . Winds that tight can foray well - built abode of their roofs and uproot trees . And that ’s exactly what happened — and more .
https://gizmodo.com/first-cyclone-to-make-landfall-amid-coronavirus-pandemi-1842703905
Viti Levu , Fiji ’s main island , avoided a lineal hit from the storm . But the outer bands of Harold lash the island with wind and rain , including the upper-case letter city of Suva , which is make do terrible flooding and the destruction of homes and communication lines . Other urban center on the island such as Nadi havelost power . So far , no death have been confirmed , but communicating is still scarce . Unconfirmedphotos on Twitter show tumble buildings and fallen trees , andFijian Broadcasting Corporation reportstornado wrong as well . Kadavu Island located in the south of Viti Levu took a stroke from Harold psyche - on . Though less populated , hurt there could be catastrophic , but communication remains scarce .
Nearly 1,800 evacueestook shelterahead of Harold . However , try tax shelter amid a extremely communicable computer virus may present a different risk for families . Fiji has confirmed15 casesof covid-19 , though the number is potential an undercount hold howlittle testing is being done .
Strong winds and rough sea feel on Bau island this morning.#TimesNews#FijiNews#TCHaroldVC : TEPOLA VUETIBAUpic.twitter.com/MYHOzw2jLJ
— The Fiji Times ( @fijitimes)April 7 , 2020
Vanuatu front similar worries in the font of Harold . No coronavirus case have been cover yet , but the state is likewise curt on tests . Luganville , the land ’s secondly - largest city , saw70 percentof its structures damage and the governing urged people to seek shelter before the tempest . Damage in the consequence could keep people in faithful contact , raising the risk of residential area spread if the disease is present .
Next , Cyclone Harold is on track to arrive at the Polynesian islands of Tonga , which pose southeast of Fiji . fortunately , many of these islands are n’t populate , but it ’s still home to more than 106,000 people . High tide warningsare in effectfor many islands with beau up to nigh 20 feet .
How the island nations respond in the coming month will give the world a sense of what it means to battle two disaster at once . The covid-19 pandemic is threatening the health and prophylactic of millions around the earth , and Pacific cyclones can take up at any meter . Atlantic hurricane time of year begins on June 1 .
The U.S. is badly prepared for hurricane season even without a pandemic . This year ’s hurricane seasonmay prove more deadlythan it needs to be if leaders ca n’t get a grip on the coronavirus outbreak waste the Carry Nation before summer roll around .
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