The parliament building in the Pacific country of Tonga has been destroyed by the worst storm to hit the country in more than 60 years.

Cyclone Gita, a category four storm, battered the island overnight and caused widespread damage.

Electricity lines were downed and roofs were torn off houses by the high winds.

The government declared a state of emergency before the storm hit, and set up evacuation centres where thousands of people stayed overnight.

"The wind was terrifying. It was roaring overhead. We could hear roofs being lifted," witness Mary Fonua told Radio New Zealand.

"I could see the people across the road, their roof was flapping around the house, it was trying to disintegrate. I think a lot of people were very desperate last night."

The UK Met Office said the storm - which brought winds of more than 200km/h (124mph) - was the strongest to hit the main islands of Tonga since modern records began.

Tonga is made up of more than 170 islands, and is located in the Pacific Ocean east of Fiji and north of New Zealand.

Tonga's parliament building is more than 100 years old. It is not yet clear where MPs will sit while it is being repaired.

One MP, Lord Fusitu'a, told ABC News that the damage was "a great disappointment".

"Successive legislatures over the years have suggested building a new parliament house and I guess that'll be a necessity now," he said.

Gita is expected to intensify into a category five storm - the highest level - on Tuesday as it moves towards Fiji.

But experts predict it will miss the country's most densely populated areas. </s> Image copyright AFP Image caption Tonga's Parliament House is more than 100 years old

The parliament building in the Pacific country of Tonga has been destroyed by the worst storm to hit the country in more than 60 years.

Cyclone Gita, a category four storm, battered the island overnight and caused widespread damage.

Electricity lines were downed and roofs were torn off houses by the high winds.

The government declared a state of emergency before the storm hit, and set up evacuation centres where thousands of people stayed overnight.

"The wind was terrifying. It was roaring overhead. We could hear roofs being lifted," witness Mary Fonua told Radio New Zealand.

"I could see the people across the road, their roof was flapping around the house, it was trying to disintegrate. I think a lot of people were very desperate last night."

The UK Met Office said the storm - which brought winds of more than 200km/h (124mph) - was the strongest to hit the main islands of Tonga since modern records began.

Tonga is made up of more than 170 islands, and is located in the Pacific Ocean east of Fiji and north of New Zealand.

Tonga's parliament building is more than 100 years old. It is not yet clear where MPs will sit while it is being repaired.

Image copyright John Pulu/AFP Image caption The storm tore the roofs off buildings and uprooted trees

One MP, Lord Fusitu'a, told ABC News that the damage was "a great disappointment".

"Successive legislatures over the years have suggested building a new parliament house and I guess that'll be a necessity now," he said.

Tongan cross-country skiier Pita Taufatofua, who is known as the bare-chested flag bearer for the Tongan Olympic team, posted about the cyclone on his social media.

"Thank you for all the kind messages of support," Taufatofua said on his Facebook account Tuesday.

Image copyright AFP/getty Image caption The 34-year-old athlete gained international notoriety at the 2016 and 2018 opening ceremonies

"Tonga has been hit very hard by Cyclone Gita resulting in a lot of damage. Still yet to hear word on the safety of family and friends along with the full scale of destruction.

"Things like this really put life and what's important in life into perspective. I wish I could be there right now to help #prayersForTonga," the post said.

Gita is expected to intensify into a category five storm - the highest level - on Tuesday as it moves towards Fiji.

But experts predict it will miss the country's most densely populated areas. </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> 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 (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.
Tonga's 100 year old Parliament building is destroyed by Cyclone Gita.