FIJI is on cyclone alert and authorities were not taking any chances yesterday -- closing schools at midday and urging the public to prepare for the worst.
The warning for citizens to prepare themselves comes as Cyclone Tomas was located about 700km northeast of Udu Point at 4pm yesterday.
Meteorology director Rajendra Prasad said the path of the cyclone showed there was a great chance of it hitting Vanua Levu but at the same time the Western Division should also be on the lookout.
He said winds were expected to strengthen by today and intensify to gale force winds by tomorrow.
However, he said, the path of the cyclone could change given the strength of the winds. "At the moment it's formed into a category one cyclone and could move up to category two overnight," he said.
"By Saturday it could move into a category three as it moves towards the Vanua Levu group and the Eastern parts of the Lau Group. But its path could change."
The last cyclone to hit the group was Cyclone Mick last December, leaving damage estimated at $20million.
It followed the worst flooding disaster, which cost $174,891,791 in damage.
Meanwhile, a second tropical depression located just west of Santo Island in Vanuatu is also expected to deepen and form into a tropical cyclone in the next 12 to 18 hours. This system is expected to drift westwards and therefore poses no direct threat to Fiji at this stage.