Two dead as cyclone levels Fiji villages

Super cyclone Yasa flattened entire villages as it tore through Fiji, aid agencies said yesterday, with a baby among two confirmed deaths and rescue workers racing to the worst-hit communities. 

Yasa made landfall late Thursday as a top-of-the-scale Category Five cyclone, lashing Fiji's second-largest island, Vanua Levu.

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Climate change has made cyclones stronger and more frequent, with Yasa the third maximum-strength storm to batter the Pacific island nation in five years.

It triggered floods, landslides and blackouts before moving out to sea early Friday, where it rapidly weakened to a Category Three system.