WELLINGTON, New Zealand: Tonga began cleaning up Tuesday after a cyclone hit overnight, while some people in the nearby Pacific nation of Fiji began preparing for the storm to hit them.
Cyclone Gita destroyed homes and churches in Tonga and caused widespread power outages after it tore through the island nation just south of the capital, Nuku’alofa. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries or deaths.
The cyclone was packing winds of over 200 kilometers per hour (124 miles per hour) when it made landfall. The nation has declared a state of emergency.
The cyclone was continuing to intensify and was predicted to hit some southern Fiji islands Tuesday night. Experts predict the cyclone will miss Fiji’s major population centers, including the capital, Suva.
About 2,500 people living on two of Fiji’s islands were at risk, the nation’s National Disaster Management Office told Radio New Zealand. Director Anare Leweniqila said emergency supplies of food and water were being gathered and urged elderly and disabled people to begin moving into evacuation centers.
The storm has strengthened since hitting Samoa and American Samoa last week, where it caused damage to buildings, widespread power outages and flooding.
President Donald Trump on Sunday declared an emergency in American Samoa, a US territory. The declaration allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide equipment and resources to help the 50,000 residents recover.
Chris Brandolino, a scientist at New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, said flooding and coastal inundation would likely cause as many problems in Tonga as the damage from the winds.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her government was on standby and ready to help Tonga, which is home to about 105,000 people.
On Monday before the storm hit, publisher Pesi Fonua said people were busy nailing boards and roofing iron to their homes to try to limit the damage from coconuts, trees and other debris.
Tonga begins cleanup while Fiji prepares for Cyclone Gita
Tonga begins cleanup while Fiji prepares for Cyclone Gita
Oil surges as Iran conflict disrupts Middle Eastern supply flow
SINGAPORE: Oil prices surged by as much as 13 percent on Monday after shipping in the crucial Strait of Hormuz was disrupted by retaliatory Iranian attacks following initial bombing by Israel and the US that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Brent crude futures rose to as much as $82.37 a barrel, the highest since January 2025, before retreating to be up $5.41, or 7.4 percent, to $78.28 by 09:05 am Saudi time.
US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed to an intraday high of $75.33, up over 12 percent and the highest since June, though it later pared gains and was up $4.74, or 7.1 percent, at $71.76.
Both benchmarks jumped as a sustained exchange of counterattacks damaged tankers and sharply disrupted shipmentsin the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway between Iran and Oman that connects the Gulf to the Arabian Sea.
On a typical day, ships carrying oil equal to about one-fifth of global demand from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Iran, and Kuwait sail through the Strait along with tankers hauling diesel and jet fuel and gasoline and other products from their refineries to major Asian markets including China and India.
“Markets are acknowledging the seriousness of the conflict, but are also signalling that, for now, this is a geopolitical shock, not a systemic crisis,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior analyst at Phillip Nova.
Prolonged effective closure of the Strait would push oil prices higher and cause shortages in supply to top importers China and India.
More than 200 vessels including oil and liquefied gas tankers have dropped anchor outside the Strait, shipping data showed on Sunday. Three tankers were damaged and one seafarer was killed in attacks on Sunday in Gulf waters.
Asian economies are assessing oil stockpile availability and ways to secure alternative supply. South Korea will offer petroleum from its stockpiles to local industries if supply disruptions are prolonged, while India is exploring alternative shipping routes.
PRICES PARE GAINS
Still, prices pared gains after the steep surge in early Asian trade, which analysts attributed to buyers already factoring a risk premium into prices in anticipation of the conflict.
Brent had risen over 19 percent this year until Friday’s close, while WTI was trading about 17 percent higher.
Amid the conflict, OPEC+ agreedon Sunday to a modest oil output boost of 206,000 barrels per day for April. Every OPEC+ producer is essentially producing at capacity except for Saudi Arabia, RBC Capital analyst Helima Croft said.
The International Energy Agency is in touch with major producers in the Middle East, director Fatih Birol said on Sunday. The energy watchdog coordinates the release of strategic petroleum reserves from developed countries during emergencies.
Globally, visible oil inventories stood at 7.827 million barrels, enough for 74 days of demand, which is near a historical median, Goldman Sachs wrote in a note.
Citi analysts expect Brent to trade between $80 and $90 a barrel this week amid the ongoing conflict.
“Our baseline view is that the Iranian leadership changes, or that the regime changes sufficiently as to stop the war within 1-2 weeks, or the US decides to de-escalate having seen a change in leadership and set back Iran's missiles and nuclear program over the same time frame,” Citi analysts led by Max Layton wrote.
Analysts are also warning retail gasoline prices in the US, the world’s biggest fuel consumer, may break above $3 a gallon because of the conflict, a potentially risky result for President Donald Trump and his Republican Party ahead of midterm elections this November.
US gasoline futures surged by as much as 9.1 percent to $2.496 a gallon, their highest since July 2024, and were last at $2.381 a gallon, up 4.2 percent.
