A DEADLY Pacific storm slammed into Fiji today, tearing off roofs and flooding towns, after leaving a trail of destruction in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Tropical Cyclone Harold weakened slightly overnight from a scale-topping Category Five to Four, but is still lashing Fiji with winds of up to 240kph, said forecasters.

The official NaDraki weather service said the storm is offshore south of Fiji’s main island of Viti Levu, but passing closer to land than initially expected.

Despite the downgrade, it said, Harold remains “extremely dangerous”, advising residents in the island’s south to shelter in churches, schools or other substantial buildings.

Images on social media showed extensive damage in Nausori, just outside Suva, with corrugated iron roofs peeled back by ferocious winds.

The main street of Ba, in the island’s north, is submerged after the local river burst its banks.

The National Disaster Management Office said residents along much of the south coast, home to many of the country’s major tourist resorts, should evacuate.

“We are expecting a significant storm surge to be very dangerous for those living in coastal areas. We urge you to move to higher ground.”

Its director, Vasiti Soko, said evacuation centres have been set up and officials are attempting to maintain social distancing to ensure Covid-19 does not spread among those fleeing the cyclone.

Fiji has 15 cases of the coronavirus, with all known patients in quarantine before the storm hit.

Harold claimed 27 lives in the Solomon Islands last week, and yesterday tore through Vanuatu, destroying much of the country’s second-largest town of Luganville.

A massive international aid effort was launched after the last Category Five storm to hit Vanuatu, Cyclone Pam in 2015, flattened the capital, Port Vila.

However, Vanuatu’s international borders are currently closed as the impoverished Pacific nation bids to remain one of the world’s few places with no confirmed Covid-19 cases.

The government has revoked a domestic travel ban imposed as part of its virus response, which will allow disaster relief to flow from Port Vila to the worst-hit islands in the north. – AFP, April 8, 2020.