3.10pm: From the Green Party: "Our hearts go out to the people of the Kingdom of Tonga at this tragic time of devastation from Cyclone Gita. We stand in support to help our proud Pacific neighbours."

"The full extent of damage caused by Cyclone Gita is still being assessed by there is an immediate need for assistance on the ground," says Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters.

The plane will land at Fua'amotu International Airport in Tongatapu, which is open to emergency supply aircraft only. A visual inspection of the international airport has shown the runway to be intact with minimal damage.

He tweeted: "Tonga is in our prayers in the wake of #TCGita, the strongest cyclone to ever strike our island neighbour. Fijians in the storm's projected path, especially our southern Lau group (Ono-i-Lau and Vatoa), heed the warnings and prepare - Gita is gaining strength."

12.39pm: Cyclone Gita is intensifying and is likely to be a category-5 storm when it reaches Fiji's southern Lau island group about 6pm tonight. Locals are taking shelter and those have not already and being urged to evacuate if possible. Fiji Broadcasting Corporation reports gusts on Ono-I-Lau have already reached more than 120kmh.

12.17pm: Tongan Police say they have not had any contact from their station on the eastern island of 'Eua since last night at 11.30pm. Tonga Red Cross members are also trying to reach 'Eua for a damage assessment.

11.59am: Spark says it will credit customers the cost of their landline and mobile calls and texts to Tonga and Samoa following Cyclone Gita from 9am today until 9am Thursday. Customers do not need to sign up - the credits will be automatically attributed to their account in either their March or April bill cycle.

11.22am: There are no confirmed deaths so far, but at least three people have been seriously injured. At least 6000 people went to shelters before the storm hit, which authorities say contributed to the low death and injury rate.

11.00am: More footage has emerged of the destruction in the Tongan capital of Nukua'alofa. Footage taken by Lenny Folau in the main streets shows considerable damage to numerous buildings, and people beginning to clear away debris.

10. 52am: A spokesperson for the Council for International Development says the best way for Kiwis to help those in Tonga is to send cash, not items. They recommend the following charities:

10.48am: Cabinet minster Jenny Salesa has received word from Tonga where she has family, and has confirmed they are all safe. She said she has not yet been able to speak with them directly, but that they are all alive.

10.12am: Winston Peters says an initial fund of NZ$750,000 will be allocated to providing aid to Tonga in the form of emergency shelter, water and sanitation. "We stand ready to provide additional support as the extent of the damage becomes clear," Mr Peters said in a statement. "Given the force of this Cyclone all signs point to a lengthy clean-up effort and our thoughts are with the Government and people of Tonga as they come to terms with the scale of this disaster".</s>The Tongan government declared a state of emergency on Monday ahead of the storm’s arrival as thousands of islanders scrambled to seek shelter at newly set-up evacuation centres. Cyclone Gita battered Tonga overnight, ripping roofs off buildings, smashing homes and tearing down power lines. The government’s Parliament House building was completely flattened while flooding was widespread. No deaths have been reported to date and the cyclone has now left the South Pacific Polynesian Kingdom.

This evening, Gita is forecast to hit southern Fiji as a category 5 cyclone as it intensifies over Fijian waters. Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama warned residents to "heed warnings and prepare", although the storm is expected to bypass heavily populated areas. Tonga, located east of Fiji and north of New Zealand, is usually celebrated for its beautiful white-sand beaches and serene islands, making it a popular honeymoon destination.

Today, the Pacific Ocean nation looked more like a nightmare, with around 40 percent of homes damaged and felled trees marking flooded roads. A clean-up operation started from around 1.30am today (local time) with soldiers clearing the roads to enable people to get medical attention. NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said in a statement: “The full extent of damage caused by Cyclone Gita is still being assessed but there is an immediate need for assistance on the ground. "About 5,700 people sought shelter in evacuation centres overnight, and it is expected these numbers will increase substantially tonight."

Graham Kenna, an Australian government adviser at Tonga's National Emergency Management Office said there were a lot of injured people, some seriously. He said: ”Every second power pole has been knocked over and the lines are just everywhere," adding it would likely be days before power could be restored. New Zealand - which may yet be hit by the tropical storm, has pledged NZ$750,000 ($545,000) in aid. A NZ Air Force Hercules aircraft was due to fly emergency relief supplies into Tonga today. Australia is also donating A$350,000 ($275,000) worth of emergency shelter, kitchen and hygiene kits.</s>WELLINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Tonga was bracing for Tropical Cyclone Gita to hit on Monday after the powerful storm sparked evacuations and cut off water supplies in Samoa over the weekend.

The Category 4 storm was moving south across the Pacific and was expected to hit Tonga‘s, capital, Nuku‘alofa, by 7 p.m. on Monday (0600 GMT).

“Very destructive hurricane force winds are expected from this evening,” said the Tongan Metservice as it issued a hurricane warning.

The Red Cross said residents were racing to identify strong buildings to which to evacuate and clean up debris such as loose wood or metal that could turn into dangerous missiles during expected winds of up to 185 kilometres per hour (115 mph).

“That’s an incredibly strong cyclone ... people are getting prepared ... it really does save lives,” said Hanna Butler, Red Cross Pacific spokeswoman based in Fiji.

The Metservice also warned of huge coastal swells and flooding of low-lying areas.

The storm pummelled Samoa and American Samoa over the weekend, flooding the Samoan capital, Apia. About 300 people had evacuated but were now returning to their homes, Butler said. Many people remained without clean, running water. (Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Peter Cooney)</s>Wellington: Tonga was braced on Sunday for “very destructive winds” as Cyclone Gita took aim at the Pacific island nation a day after it wreaked havoc in Samoa.

The kingdom’s tropical cyclone centre has been activated and Red Cross, which is coordinating relief supplies, has warned islanders to be prepared.

“Very destructive hurricane force winds are expected from Monday morning,” Tonga’s Fua’amotu Weather Forecasting Centre said in a bulletin, forecasting gusts of 80 knots (148 kmh, 92 mph) with heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said Gita forced the evacuation of some 200 people and caused widespread flooding when it slammed into the island overnight Friday.

Gita had since intensified from a category two to category three storm as it took aim at Tonga and was expected to get stronger.</s>WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Emergency services in Tonga were working to reopen roads on Tuesday and assess what assistance they may need after Cyclone Gita tore across the Pacific island nation in the middle of the night.

There were no confirmed reports of deaths from the Category 4 storm, but there were a lot of injured people, some seriously, said Graham Kenna, an Australian government adviser at Tonga’s National Emergency Management Office.

The clean-up began in the early hours of the morning as the tail of the cyclone was still over the capital, Nuku‘alofa, with soldiers clearing roads from around 1:30 a.m.

“We needed the roads cleared firstly so that we could get people that needed to get medical attention, and so that our assessment teams could get out,” Kenna told Reuters in a telephone interview.

He estimated around 40 percent of houses in the capital, which is home to around 24,500 people, had suffered some damage, with roofs blown off and flooding. There was no electricity, after power infrastructure that was shut down in advance of the storm suffered damage and communications to many parts of the country were cut.

“A lot of the older houses, especially some of the older heritage houses, have been badly damaged or destroyed, which is very sad, they’re quite historical,” Kenna said. “They’ve been through cyclones before, but this is the biggest cyclone this island has had for at least 60 odd years.”

Photos posted on social media showed extensive flooding and downed power lines, as well as a destroyed Parliament House in the capital.

The storm is now tracking towards Fiji’s southern islands.</s>NUKU´ALOFA, TONGA: Nuku´alofa awoke to scenes of devastation Tuesday after the most powerful cyclone ever recorded in the Tongan capital tore roofs off buildings, downed powerlines and caused extensive flooding, prompting a state of emergency in the tiny Pacific nation.



Veteran disaster management officials were shocked at the fury of Severe Cyclone Gita as it unleashed 230 kmh (142 mph) winds on Tonga´s most populous island Tongatapu.

Historic wooden buildings in the heart of Nuku´alofa, including parts of Tonga´s parliament, were reduced to matchsticks as the tempest hit overnight.

Broken power poles and trees blocked the roads and sheets of corrugated iron stripped from homes littered the capital.

"It was a particularly bad night," Graham Kenna, from the National Emergency Office, told Radio New Zealand.

"I´ve been involved in disaster response for 30-plus years and it was the worst situation I´ve been in."

Even the Tongan Meteorological Service lost its roof, forcing it to hand over the job of issuing warnings about the cyclone to its counterpart in Fiji.

Storm damage closed the international airport, along with the Australian High Commission, which warned its citizens against travelling to the devastated kingdom.

Yet officials said it could have been worse. The storm did not reach a top-of-the-scale Category Five as feared and there were no confirmed deaths as of mid-afternoon Tuesday.

The howling winds cut power to Tongatapu on Monday evening and peaked in the early hours of Tuesday as fearful residents hunkered down.

Police said more than 3,000 people were sheltering in 41 evacuation centres.

The military helped clear roads at first light, allowing clean-up teams to fan out and assess the extent of the destruction.

"Someone´s roof is in my front garden... some of the old landmark buildings that are 100 years old have been severely damaged by debris," Kenna said.

In the midst of the storm, phone networks continued to operate and many of the 75,000 people on Tongatapu shared their experiences online.

TVNZ´s Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver said the cyclone sounded like "a screaming freight train".

"Hotel is shaking and can hear screech of metal flying past outside ... rain water coming in sideways to second floor room. Heart with those not in solid structure this is bad gita #tonga," she tweeted.

Lord Fusitu´a, a hereditary peer in Tonga´s parliament, wrote: "I can literally feel my room shaking to the foundations -- it´ll be a long night."

As the cyclone moved out to sea early Tuesday, he said Nuku´alofa had experienced "a dose of miracle".

"Astoundingly #TCGita seems to have subsided & we´ve avoided the worst of it," he wrote on Instagram.

The storm had already created havoc when it slammed into Samoa on the weekend and authorities in Tonga declared a state of emergency before it hit.

While there was widespread flooding, Kenna said the impact of storm surges on the flat terrain of Tongatapu was also less than expected.

"It was very fortunate that the worst of the cyclone came at a dead low tide, so it sort of worked in our favour," he said.

The storm also passed just south of the capital rather than making a direct hit.

But forecasters warned the threat from Gita was not over and it could still reach Category Five as it heads towards Fiji´s remote and sparsely populated Ono-i-Lau island group early Wednesday.

Philip Duncan, chief forecaster at New Zealand´s Weather Watch service, said it could then brush Norfolk Island and New Caledonia before dissipating over New Zealand next week.

New Zealand announced NZ$750,000 (US$544,000) in aid and deployed an air force plane to send supplies to Tonga.

"Given the force of this cyclone, all signs point to a lengthy clean-up effort," Foreign Minister Winston Peters said.

Cyclones are common in the Pacific at this time of year and Category Five systems have proved catastrophic when they make landfall.

Cyclone Winston killed 44 people in Fiji in 2016, and Cyclone Pam claimed 11 lives and damaged 65,000 homes in Vanuatu in 2015.</s>Cyclone Gita is intensifying to a possible category five storm – the most severe – as Tonga braces for the worst tropical cyclone to hit the region in almost two years.

A state of emergency has been declared in Tonga ahead of the storm, which is already packing winds of almost 200km/h and is predicted to pass directly over the capital Nuku-alofa.

CARE Australia’s Emergency Response Manager Stefan Knollmayer said CARE was ready to mobilise specialist relief teams if needed and requested.

“We’re monitoring the cyclone closely with our local partners on the ground, and are on standby to provide further assistance if it’s required,” Mr Knollmayer said.

“With a storm this big, we have to prepare for the worst.”

CARE’s partner agency in Tonga, Live and Learn, is helping communities likely to bear the brunt of the storm to prepare.

“We’re reminding people in the communities to stockpile food and water and to reinforce their homes before the storm hits,” said Taniela Hoponoa, Live and Learn’s Country Manager in Tonga.

“It’s also extremely important people listen to the advice from Tonga’s national emergency office and keep their radios and phones charged and nearby.”

CARE Australia is an international humanitarian aid organisation. Last year, CARE directly reached more than 14 million people through humanitarian response work. Donations to CARE’s Global Emergency Fund can be made at www.care.org.au/emergency</s>The morning sun rise has revealed devatation across Tonga, with among the most dire early images those of Tonga's Parliament House in Nuku'alofa, which has been totally flattened.

The damage is concerning because Parliament House was among the island's most sturdy buildings.

Early photos and videos are showing widespread destruction across Tonga's two main islands.

Follow the latest news on this unfolding tragedy in our LIVE rolling coverage.

Other Tonga videos from this morning:</s>Photo shows wood floating on the water in Samoa after a cyclone blew through.

Photo shows wood floating on the water in Samoa after a cyclone blew through.

TONGA HAS DECLARED a state of emergency today and imposed a curfew in the capital Nuku’alofa as the Pacific island kingdom braced for a direct hit from Severe Tropical Cyclone Gita.

The cyclone has already created havoc in neighbouring Samoa and is threatening to become a Category Five superstorm as it approaches Tonga.

Acting Prime Minister Semisi Sika issued a nationwide alert, saying he was “satisfied that an emergency is happening or is about to happen”.

The Fiji Meteorological Service predicts Gita will become a Category Five storm – the top of the scale – before reaching Tonga later tonight.

It is already packing gusts of 275 km/h has it sits off the east coast of the country’s most populous island Tongatapu.

Truckloads of troops were helping people batten down as the capital prepared for the cyclone and evacuation centres were opened across the kingdom.

Police also announced an overnight curfew in central Nuku’alofa “to further protect people and property”.

“We are urging people to seek refuge from this severe cyclone that could be the most powerful in the country’s history,” said police commissioner Stephen Caldwell.

Gita slammed into Samoa overnight Friday, forcing the evacuation of some 200 people and causing widespread flooding, leaving many without power.

Philip Duncan, chief forecaster at New Zealand’s Weather Watch service, said current modelling showed it was lining up to hit Tongatapu directly.

“That’s a very serious situation, the capital is there, there’s over 75,000 people,” he said.

Duncan said the cyclone could cause major damage even if it remained offshore.

“If it moves just a little bit north or south it may not make technical landfall but it’s severe weather, winds up to 230 km/h, waves over 10 metres at sea and a storm surge over a metre on top of that,” he said.

The information ministry advised anyone considering moving to the shelters to leave early, saying travel would not be possible when the eye of the storm passes over.

Otherwise people should stay at home and ride out the wild weather, it said.

“Every family should have an emergency kit packed in their homes,” it warned.

Tonga Meteorological Service director Ofa Fa’anunu said the low-lying capital was particularly vulnerable to storm surges.

“We are looking at major structural damage,” he warned.

Cyclones are common in the Pacific at this time of year, with Category Five systems proving highly destructive when they make landfall.

Cyclone Winston killed 44 people in Fiji in 2016, and Cyclone Pam claimed 11 lives and damaged 65,000 homes in Vanuatu in 2015.

Another Category Five storm, Cyclone Ian, hit Tonga’s sparsely-populated Ha’apai islands in 2014, causing extensive damage and leaving thousands homeless.

Read: Terrorism not being considered as probe into one of Russia’s worst ever air disasters kicks off

Read: All flights in and out of London City Airport cancelled after discovery of World War II bomb nearby</s>NUKN'ALOFA (TONGA): Tonga declared a state of emergency Monday as a powerful cyclone bears down on the Pacific island nation after wreaking havoc in neighbouring Samoa.

Acting Prime Minister Semisi Sika issued the nationwide alert, saying he was "satisfied that an emergency is happening or is about to happen in the kingdom".

Severe Tropical Cyclone Gita is intensifying as it approaches and the Fiji Meteorological Service predicted it will become a maximum category five storm before reaching Tonga on Monday night.

It is already packing wind gusts of 220 kmh (137 mph) as it gathers strength some 370 kilometres east of Tonga's most populous island Tongatapu.

Gita slammed into Samoa overnight Friday, forcing the evacuation of some 200 people and causing widespread flooding, leaving many without power and electricity.

Tonga's information ministry said evacuation centres were being prepared across the kingdom and advised residents to avoid unnecessary travel.

"Every family should have an emergency kit packed in their homes," it said.

"Everyone should be mindful of what might cause damage within their homes such as large trees that can potentially damage a house."

Cyclones are common in the Pacific at this time of year, with top-of-the-scale category five systems proving highly destructive when they make landfall.

Cyclone Winston killed 44 people in Fiji in 2016 and Cyclone Pam claimed 11 lives and damaged 65,000 homes in Vanuatu in 2015.
Tonga is directly hit by Cyclone Gita, causing heavy damage to the country. Gita is the strongest storm to hit Tonga in its history.