The worst of the storm is over for Fiji but the extent of the damage wrought to the low-lying atolls by Tropical Cyclone Gita remains to be seen. New Zealand MetService lead meteorologist Michael Martens said the Category 4 cyclone arrived in the southern Lau island group about 6pm yesterday, slowly passing through until about 10pm. The main concern was for the islands of Ono-i-Lau and Vatoa, which were directly in the cyclone's path. In its latest forecast at 4am (NZ time) the Fiji Metservice downgraded the storm strength slightly from warnings of hurricane-force, to storm-force gales. Martens said the cyclone was now south of the main Fiji island of Viti Levu and would travel west over the next 48 hours to just below New Caledonia.

Source: Otago Daily Times February 13, 2018 19:41 UTC