Cyclone Ella

The island of 5,000 people had been on lockdown for nearly three days as the category two storm passed close to the northern coast.

Residents were forced to stay indoors and all movement had been banned.

But with the cyclone now about 100km away, the alerts were lifted on Saturday night.

Wallis and Futuna's public broadcaster reported that power was cut, roofs were damaged and some areas flooded, but there was so far no major damage.

The cyclone is forecast to slowly move west, maintaining its category two strength.

The Category 1 cyclone is forecast to move towards Fiji at about 7km/h.

It is expected to move west, past Tonga's northernmost islands.

RNZI reports the new storm in the Pacific comes as Cyclone Donna, now Category 3, arrives in New Caledonia, with wind gusts up to 230km/h.

The Fiji Met Service said Ella was intensifying and was forecast to be Category 2 by Thursday.

It was expected to make landfall on Vanua Levu in Fiji late on Thursday evening or early Friday morning.