1of4The sky is clouded over in the distance as intermittent rain and wind continue at Suva Harbour in Suva, Fiji, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. Dozens of homes have been destroyed by a cyclone Yasa which hit the island nation overnight.Aileen Torres-Bennett/APShow MoreShow Less2of4This Tuesday, Dec. 15 2020, satellite image released by NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) shows Cyclone Yasa, top center right, over Fiji. Fiji imposed a nationwide curfew Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020 after urging people near the coast to move to higher ground as the island nation prepared for a major cyclone to hit. (NASA via AP)APShow MoreShow Less3of4A gas pump is wrapped in the preparation for cyclone Yasa in Suva, Fiji, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020. Fiji was urging people near the coast to move to higher ground Thursday ahead of a nationwide curfew as the island nation prepared for a major cyclone to hit.Aileen Torres-Bennett/APShow MoreShow Less4of4A house is shuttered in the preparation for cyclone Yasa in the Tamavua neighborhood of Suva, Fiji, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020. Fiji was urging people near the coast to move to higher ground Thursday ahead of a nationwide curfew as the island nation prepared for a major cyclone to hit.Aileen Torres-Bennett/APShow MoreShow Less
SUVA, Fiji (AP) — The death toll from a powerful cyclone that battered the Pacific island nation of Fiji last week has risen to four with one missing, an official said Sunday.
While Cyclone Yasa on Thursday spared the capital city, Suva, and the major tourist hub of Nadi on Fiji’s largest island, Viti Levu, the full extend of damage was still being assessed.
Fiji’s National Disaster Management Office Director Vasiti Soko told reporters that 7,731 people were still in 183 evacuation centers throughout the country.
Soko said an Australian military C-17 transport was expected to arrive later Sunday with shelter kits.
Before the cyclone hit with gusts of up to 345 kilometers (214 miles) per hour, authorities had imposed an overnight curfew and declared a state of natural disaster.
Located about one-third of the way from New Zealand to Hawaii, Fiji has a population of about 930,000.
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