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Fiji Braces for Second Cyclone in Just Over a Week


A tree blocks a road after it was blown down by the encroaching cyclone Winston in Nakasi, Fiji, Feb. 20, 2016.
A tree blocks a road after it was blown down by the encroaching cyclone Winston in Nakasi, Fiji, Feb. 20, 2016.

Fiji was bracing on Tuesday for the second potentially destructive cyclone to hit the Pacific island nation in just over a week, with authorities advising residents to prepare survival kits and be ready for evacuation.

Cyclone Keni was upgraded earlier on Tuesday to a Category 3 storm and is expected to bring winds of up to 170 km (105 miles) an hour when it makes landfall later in the day.

Parts of Fiji are still cleaning up after Cyclone Josie hit over the Easter weekend, leading to major flooding that killed six people. Many people who were evacuated to shelters have only just returned to their homes and some roads remain closed.

Tropical storms are graded from the lowest Category One to the highest Category Five. In February, Fiji escaped without deaths or widespread damage when Gita, a Category Four storm, lashed the region, causing widespread destruction in Tonga and Samoa.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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