SAMOA – Samoa is in recovery mode after Cyclone Gita ravaged the island nation and now the storm system has Tonga in its sights.

A state of disaster was declared in Samoa as Cyclone Gita tore through the country bringing damaging winds and torrential rain.

American Samoa’s governor, Lolo Matalasi Moliga also made an emergency declaration, saying it’s likely the territory will ask for assistance from the United States.

On Sunday the storm moved to the south-east of the Samoa’s where it brushed Niue – then intensified as it approached Tonga where there are fears it could develop into a category four storm.

Most of Samoa’s capital city, Apia, is under water. Roads turned to rivers and residents have been forced to wade through the flood for supplies.

Several buildings have been flattened and authorities say more than 300 people have been evacuated.

Ulu Bismarck Crawley, head of Samoa’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said the entire country had been affected, but worst hit were the north coast and rivers prone to flooding.

He said there were no reports of injury or death but emergency services were focusing on people isolated by the effects of the storm.

He said lines companies were reconnecting phone and electricity services now that roads were more accessible as flood waters receded.

Red Cross secretary general Namulauulu Tautala Mauala said” “There’s no power and electricity in the whole country except for essential areas, so from the Red Cross we know that there will be a lot of problems for water and sanitation.”

RNZ Pacific’s correspondent in Apia, Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia, said the rain had caused rivers to burst their banks, flooding many houses – including his own.

Autagavaia said there were strong winds through Saturday night, which had uprooted trees and ripped off roofs. Several main roads were blocked and power was out in Apia.

He said the country had experienced severe downpours for much of the week, and the cyclone had only added to the misery.

The Samoa Observer’s editor, Mata’afa Keni Lesa, said: “The flooding we again witnessed yesterday has to be among some of the worst we’ve seen in this country.

“When it comes to flooding, we thought we’d seen the worst during Cyclone Evan. This time it reached a lot more places

“And if scientists and climate change related predictions are anything to go by, flooding is something we will just have to get used to.”

In American Samoa power was knocked out in large areas and businesses and schools were ordered shut as the cyclone crossed the territory.

RNZ Pacific’s correspondent in Pago Pago, Monica Miller, said there was flooding and debris was strewn around the district.

“The road is covered with fallen branches and some of the stores, roofing iron was falling around. .”

Cyclone Gita passed over Samoa as a category 1 storm system. Since then it’s been upgraded to category 3 and could go higher. Tonga is its next target.

“Without question it’s a stronger storm,” says NIWA’s Chris Brandolino.

“There’s a very good chance, if not a likelihood, there’ll be more wind damage and with a stronger storm and higher winds there’s bigger waves and more chance of coastal inundation.”

The cyclone is then expected to move south and could turn east during the next week.

NIWA says that means there’s a “distinct possibility” it could hit New Zealand, but what form it will take still isn’t known.

“Whether it falls apart before it gets close to New Zealand, or whether it remains a somewhat formidable system. If it were to impact New Zealand it would be an ex-tropical cyclone,” Brandolino said.

WeatherWatch says Gita is now much more powerful than recent Cyclone Fehi, which flooded homes and damaged roads across the north and west of the South Island last week

“As of Saturday night, it was looking increasingly likely that it would come into the New Zealand area around next Sunday or Monday,” the organisation said in a statement.

- PNC sources