Tongan USP students living in the Laucala Campus in Suva, Fiji, are "safe and sound" after Tropical Cyclone Winston Cat. 5 left a path of destruction on the weekend, Dr Masasso Paunga, Vice President of USP regional campuses, stated this morning. However, USP students living in Labasa and Lautoka had not yet made contact.

"Despite numerous attempts to contact our colleagues from Labasa and Lautoka, these have proven futile as nation-wide power outage has affected communications," he stated. "We hope that Dr Bogitini and Dr Pramila and their staff and students and respective families are fine."

The university is trying to restore the USPNet Operations today and hoped that this would restore their communications, he said.

In Suva, food rations were provided to students who were evacuated to the dining hall during the cyclone and only minor structural damage was done to the residences and facilities. The students had returned to their halls of residence and campuses were closed until further notice.

USP had fared better than the rest of Fiji, which is still largely without power and water. The university was execting to have its full restoration of power and water by the end of today.

Tonga campus

Meanwhile, Dr ‘Ana Koloto from USP Tonga said the Tonga Campus is open today for normal classes. “The only areas affected are satellite tutorials and access to USP NET,” said Dr Koloto.