Torrential rain and strong winds have brought flooding, landslides and property damage to Samoa.

The wrath of Tropical Cyclone Gita is only going to get worse, and New Zealand is in its sight..

Tonga and Niue are set to get hit overnight by the destructive storm, while Samoa has declared a state of disaster.

Gita is currently ranked as a severe category 3 cyclone, and is expected to go up at least another level to a category 4.

Fiji Met Service believes it could reach a Category 4 within a day. And it could churn up Pacific Islands for another couple of weeks - that is whenWeatherwatch.co.nz is warning it could come really close to the north of New Zealand.

Gita is predicted to bring with it possible maximum sustained wind speeds of over 150kmh and waves over 10 metres. Tonga is preparing to be hit by landslides, flooding and wind damage. Samoa was hammered with the same issues on Saturday. Telephone contact and electricity was lost, but people are starting to work on Samoa's services as the storm moves away from the country, to the south-east. Radio New Zealand reported Ulu Bismarck Crawley, head of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said the entire country had been affected, but worst hit were the north coast and riverways prone to flooding. READ MORE:

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* Cyclone 'potential', but fearmongering impacts public trust He said there were no reports of injury or death but emergency services were focusing on people isolated by the effects of the storm. Gita also brought heavy rain, strong winds and flooding to parts of Samoa's easterly neighbour, American Samoa.

Some main roads around Samoa's capital, Apia, had been closed by flooding and debris, and the power was out. The nation's disaster management office said around 200 people were in evacuation centres.

RNZ Pacific's correspondent in Apia, Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia, said Samoa had been hammered by heavy rain for the past week.

"Yeah, it's a big mess," he told RNZ

"Strong winds, fallen trees, some roofs coming off from some of the houses in the area that I live, and also the huge flood this morning.

"Hopefully by late afternoon we'll be able to enter our houses here and start cleaning up."

In American Samoa, Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga made an emergency declaration, saying it was likely the territory would ask for assistance from the United States.

Power was out in many areas and businesses and schools were closed.

Gita was expected to veer south-east towards Niue on Saturday afternoon, where it would pass close to the island's east coast.

From there, the cyclone was forecast to complete a westward arc, heading towards Tonga's main island, Tongatapu, on Monday.