The whole of the Fiji Group is now on a Tropical Cyclone Warning as Hurricane Tomas has now picked up speed.
Nadi Weather Office Director said Tomas has now been upgraded to Category three which means that it now has hurricane force winds and is expected to affect the whole country earlier than expected.
Prasad said the centre of severe tropical Cyclone Tomas was located 310 kilometers North North east of Udu Point at 1pm this afternoon and has an average wind of 120 kilometres at its centre.
Tropical cyclone Tomas is currently moving at a speed of 16 kilometres an hour and is expected to have momentary gusts of wind of up to 220 kilometres an hour within the next 18 hours.
Prasad said that at the moment they have projected the path of the TC Tomas and it is expected to pass through Savusavu and Labasa before affecting the outer islands however this may change at any time.
Once again, the Whole of the Fiji Group is now on a Tropical Cyclone Warning as Tropical Cyclone Tomas now picked up speed.
Nadi weather Office Director said that Tropical Cyclone Tomas has now been upgraded to Category three which means that it now has hurricane force winds and is expected to affect the whole country earlier than expected.
At this stage, Prasad said all the main parts of the country are expected to get affected from tonight.
He said people in the Northern division should take the necessary steps now as strong winds and heavy rain will affect many parts of Vanua Levu within the next few hours.
People are also reminded that the cyclone has now gained hurricane status, which means that it will have destructive winds and people need to secure their property and the make the decision now to move to high ground or to an evacuation centre set up by DISMAC. People also need to be mindful of the continuous heavy rain and sea flooding which is expected to result in flash flooding.
For Viti Levu, people living in Suva, Nausori, Navua, Rakiraki.
Please ensure that you take the necessary steps and secure your property.
You also have to take the necessary steps if you believe that your houses are not secure and would not be able to sustain hurricane force winds.
Flash flooding is also likely in these areas.
Please ensure that you have stocked up on food, batteries, torches and emergency lights.
Ensure that you have a transistor radio in case there are power cuts, as normally power supply gets affected due to fallen lines.
Also ensure that children are safe and please do not touch any broken power lines.
Also store water, as water supply will be affected if there are power cuts.
Tropical Cyclone Tomas has reached hurricane strength and is expected to continue to intensify as it moves towards Fiji.
Prasad said the hurricane has good prospects to develop into a Category 4 hurricane before it hits Fiji.
Prasad said people should be mindful of this as a Category 4 hurricane is very destructive.
The Nadi Weather Office also said people living in the Northern division need to be extremely careful.
Prasad also said Hurricane Tomas which is expected to be upgraded to Category 4 by tomorrow is expected to be in the Fiji group for the whole of the day tomorrow so the rest of the group also need to be prepared.
