[Source: Fiji Roads Authority/ Facebook]

Tropical Depression 05F is currently located to the southwest of the Fiji group and is a slow-moving system.

Fiji Meteorological Services acting Director, Bipen Prakash says overnight and early this morning there has been a significant amount of rainfall over the Northern Division.

Prakash says since the system is slow-moving it is expected to linger in parts of the southwest of the country over the next few days.

“Currently, we have a heavy rain warning in force for parts of the country, especially including the northern and western parts of Vanua Levu, Yasawa and Mamanuca group, northern and western parts of Viti Levu, Kadavu and nearby small islands, and Lau and Lomaiviti groups.”

Prakash says they have cancelled the heavy rain warning for the other parts of Fiji.

“The convective activity picks up during the evening and into the night, so there’s, you know, elevated risk of, you know, significant rainfall overnight, so especially in the areas which are in heavy rainfall warning. The high tide, the next high tide is at around 8 p.m. tonight, and after that, tomorrow morning, it’s at 9 a.m. So our concern, I guess, at present is mostly, you know, the rainfall activity, which we tend to get in the afternoon and evening and overnight.”

A number of areas in the Northern Division were flooded due to continuous heavy rain overnight, resulting in school closure.

The non-essential civil servants in the North have also been advised to work from home today.