Fiji : Tropical Cyclone Yasa Emergency Response Project

Public sector management / Public expenditure and fiscal management

Tropical cyclone (TC) Yasa, a category 5 cyclone, struck Fiji on 17 and 18 December 2020. With average hurricane force winds up to 240 km/h and gusts up to 345 km/h, the cyclone affected parts of the Fiji Group. Vanua Levu, Fiji's second-largest island in the Northern Division, and the small remote maritime islands of the Yasawa group in the Western Division and Lomaiviti and Lau group in the Eastern Division lay in the direct path of TC Yasa. It is estimated that some 93,000 people in Fiji (or around 10% of the population) were directly affected, and at least four people lost their lives. Destructive winds destroyed villages, homes and government buildings, food gardens, farms, and livestock. At the height of the storm, more than 23,000 people sought shelter in 456 evacuation centers.

National Emergency Operation Center Situation Report No. 21 dated 23 December2020 outlined that about 6,000 evacuees remained in 155 evacuation centers. Preliminary estimates show that 85% of homes in assessed areas on Vanua Levu were partially or fully destroyed. Essential public services including water supply, waste and sanitation, electricity, and communications are still disrupted. Likely outbreaks of leptospirosis, diarrhea, typhoid, and dengue fever have been identified by the Government of Fiji as a major concern. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) Situation Report No. 3 dated 22 December 2020 highlights that immediate relief efforts are focused on the restoration of critical infrastructure and essential services, and the provision of food, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene kits.

Government of Fiji declared TC Yasa a natural disaster for the whole of Fiji, pursuant to the Natural Disaster Management Act 1998, on 16 December 2020 for a period of 30 days. The National Disaster Management Office is coordinating and monitoring initial damage assessments and relief efforts by government agencies and local and international nongovernmental organizations. Humanitarian and development partner support is critically needed to help the government meet immediate needs of the impacted population.

The damage caused by TC Yasa is of a scale beyond the government's resources and capacity to restore life-sustaining services to the affected population in a reasonable time. The impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on Fiji's economy and government finances is severely hampering the government's ability to respond to the disaster. ADB projects the economy is likely to contract by 19.8% in 2020, while the fiscal deficit is expected to be equivalent to 20.2% of gross domestic product in FY2020. The return to daily life will be slow and an additional burden on affected households, requiring extra expenditures at a time when incomes have been lost or reduced due to the effect of COVID-19 on Fiji's economy. The impact of TC Yasa will have significant long-term social, psychological, and economic impacts on the affected population, which is highly reliant on subsistence farming for food security and livelihoods.

The government requested support from ADB under the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund (APDRF) on 24 December 2020. The United Nations Resident Coordinator has confirmed the scale of the disaster and that a contribution by ADB to support the Government of Fiji to meet immediate humanitarian needs, in partnership with the international humanitarian community, would be appreciated. Based on identified needs, a proposed grant of $1 million from the APDRF is expected to fund expenses necessary to restore life-sustaining services, including but not limited to: (i) provision of medical kits, food, and bottled drinking water; (ii) purchase of water purification and sanitation systems; (iii) provision of transitional shelter; (iv) provision of personal hygiene kits; (v) site clearing; and (vi) safe disposal of useless rubble.

Not Applicable.