Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Wednesday 28 November 1990, page 14


Tourists flee cyclone Sina

SUVA: Several hundred tourists, many of them Australians, have left a dozen small island resorts oft" Fiji's west ahead of tropical cyclone Sina, which was expected to hit last night.

A spokesman for the Fiji

Visitor's Bureau said the hohdaymakers were evacuated to the mainland as a precaution.

Boat and light plane services to the island resorts stopped yesterday morning as seas and winds rose.

Fiji's National Weather Forecasting Centre at Nadi International Airport said Sina's path would bring it toward the main island of Viti Levu and dangerously close to small resorts and villages in the Mamanuca and Yasawa island groups.

A forecaster said Sina seemed to have reached its maximum strength with average winds at its centre of 70 kiiots gusting to 100 knots.

Storm-force winds were blowing within a 50-nauticalmile radius and gales within 150 nautical miles.

"Quite a large area of Fiji could be hit with high winds," he said. "The small islands will be particularly vulnerable with strong winds and big seas.

— AAP