As the cleanup starts after Cyclone Winston tore across Fiji, here are some facts about cyclones and their effects
LONDON, Feb 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Fiji began a massive cleanup on Monday after one of the most powerful storms recorded in the southern hemisphere, Cyclone Winston, tore through the Pacific island nation, flattening remote villages and raising fears of a widespread health crisis.
Here are some facts about cyclones and how they impact countries:
* "Cyclone", "hurricane" and "typhoon" are different terms for the same thing: a revolving tropical storm accompanied by torrential rain and wind speeds exceeding 119 kilometres per hour (74 miles per hour)
* Cyclone Winston hit Fiji with winds of up to 325 kph (200 mph)
* Cyclones occur in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, hurricanes in the Atlantic and northeast Pacific, and typhoons in the northwest Pacific
* Storms can be hundreds of kilometres wide and they bring destructive winds, torrential rain, storm surge and sometimes tornadoes
* Weather-watchers use satellite images to track tropical storms as they develop, and try to predict when and where one will hit land and at what speed. But storms are unpredictable and can suddenly weaken or swerve off course
* Improved forecasting and early warning systems have reduced the death toll from cyclones in recent decades
* A storm's impact depends not just on wind speed, but also on where it strikes, how much flooding it causes and the quality of the buildings and infrastructure
* Storm surges cause more deaths than any other storm feature. They are a raised dome of water about 60 to 80 kilometres wide and typically two to five metres higher than the normal tide level
* Storm surges are caused by a combination of strong winds driving water onshore, and the lower atmospheric pressure in a tropical cyclone
Sources: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Geoscience Australia, World Meteorological Organization
(Reporting by Alex Whiting, Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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