Cyclone Yasa’s Destruction In Fiji and What It Means Cyclone Yasa is an urgent reminder that countries must ramp up climate action in 2021 December 23, 2020 Officially deemed one of the most intense tropical storms in the southern hemisphere on record, Category 5 Cyclone Yasa ripped through the northern region of Fiji last Thursday, bringing powerful wind speeds that reached up to 177 mph. Fiji’s Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, declared a state of natural disaster, which established a curfew across the archipelago and ordered the entire population to seek shelter. Torrential rain and widespread flooding devastated and isolated entire villages, and many parts of the country are still without power or water. Damages are estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Later weakening into a Category 2 storm, Yasa made its way towards Tonga, another small island nation in the South Pacific region.