south pacific Severe Tropical Cyclone Ian

[Somerset Squall]

Ian has strengthened a little further, to 125kts. Ian still sports a clear eye this morning. It has probably just about peaked, as it'll be running into cooler waters and higher shear in a little over 12 hours time.

[Coast]

Tropical Cyclone Ian Lashes Tonga, Destroys Homes, Kills at Least 1

 

 

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga -- Authorities were searching Tonga's remote islands for cyclone victims Sunday after a powerful storm cut a swath of destruction through this South Pacific archipelago, killing one person and destroying most of the homes in some areas. Relief efforts following Saturday's cyclone were concentrating on the Ha'apai islands - one of Tonga's three island groups between the main island of Tongatapu in the south and the Vava'u islands to the north, Tonga's Director of Emergencies Leveni Aho said.

 

Cyclone Ian hit Tonga with gusts of up to 178 miles per hour. The storm was later downgraded from Category 5 - the most destructive level - to Category 4, with gusts of up to 155 mph. On Sunday, the cyclone was tracking southeast away from Tonga. Two navy patrol boats carrying tarpaulins, tents and other emergency supplies left Tongatapu to bring help to victims who were cut off in the Ha'apai islands.

 

Authorities have been unable to make telephone contact with 23 islands, which account for most of the inhabited islands in the Ha'apai group, Aho said. "The patrol boats are still out there, going from island to island to scout for information," he said. The Ha'apai islands are home to 8,000 people, most of whom live on the devastated islands of Lifuka, where the person died, and Foa. Aho said the fatality was an elderly woman, but he did not have details on how she died. He estimated that hundreds of people on the two islands were taking shelter in church buildings that were being used as evacuation centers. A New Zealand air force P3 Orion plane made a surveillance flight over the disaster area on Sunday, taking pictures showing the extent of the damage.

 

"Some places have very extensive damage - up to 80 percent of the houses have been totally wiped out," Aho said. "There is much more damage on the ground than we anticipated before." He said there were several injuries, and that local medical facilities could manage them. He said there were no reports of survivors with life-threatening injuries. Tongan authorities will further assess the damage before considering asking for international help, Aho said. Aho said storm damage to the Tongatapu and Vava'u island groups was slight. The weather was fine Sunday, but rough seas were hampering the patrol boats' relief mission, he said.

 

Tonga is an archipelago of 176 islands, 36 of which are inhabited by more than 100,000 people. Its economy relies on fish exports, tourism and remittances from Tongan communities overseas, with about 40 percent of the population living in poverty.

 

 

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/tropical-cyclone-ian-lashes-tonga-south-pacific-20140110

[Somerset Squall]

Ian's on it's way out. The cyclone is accelerating south-southeast over colder sea temps and increased shear, much like it's brother Colin in the South Indian Ocean. Extratropical transition is imminent.

[Coast]

Tongan islanders taking stock after Cyclone Ian devastation

 

One person was killed and thousands made homeless by the category five storm which packed sustained winds of more than 200 kilometres per hour when it swept through the area over the weekend. The worst affected area was the northern part of the Ha'apai group of islands, with damage to buildings and services such as water, telecommunications and power.

 

In the main town of Pangai, 75 per cent of houses were destroyed. Emergency workers in Tonga are completing their final sweep of the nation to determine where to direct resources. The secretary general of Tonga Red Cross, Sione Taumoefolau, says supplies are being given to residents who have lost everything, beginning with the distribution of five hundred tents.  Tonga's director of emergencies, Leveni Aho, has told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat it is allowing some of the displaced to move out of emergency shelters. "The tents will give them the option to go back, to start going back to their respective places," he said. "Although they have lost a house, they can at least start go back and put their belongings, or find their belongings."

 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says around 2,000 people are currently in 11 evacuation centres across the region. A Tongan-born resident of Australia has described the force of Cyclone Ian, which struck over the weekend, saying it lifted cars and buses into the air. Moeaki Halaevalu was visiting relatives in the Ha'apai islands when the cyclone hit and survived with only the clothes he was wearing. "It as so strong, all the houses gone and it actually lifted cars, lifted cars and moved buses," he said. Tongan journalist Monalisa Palu returned from Ha'apai Monday where she was among the first reporters to visit. From the capital Nuku'alofa, she told Australia Network there's a lot of devastation but also a lot of spirit. "In the midst of this devastation, the people there are working together, already cleaning up before supplies arrive, and they just want to reassure everyone that they are okay," she said. 

 

Contact re-established

 

Tongan authorities say they have made contact with most of the smaller islands, home to about 8,000 people, with reports of extensive damage. Efforts to restore power are continuing, and troops have been deployed to help clear roads. On Monday, the Australian and New Zealand High Commissioners joined the Tongan prime minister, Siale'ataongo Tu'ivakano, and other senior figures in inspecting the damage. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has announced Australia will provide an initial $AU50,000 in emergency supplies to assist the response, and pledges to work closely with the Tongan government to support their efforts.

 

The Australian High Commission in Nukuâalofa has been contacting Australians in the affected region to determine their safety and welfare. New Zealand pledged $NZ50,000 for immediate response efforts and sent in the air force to assist in assessing damage. However, Tongan New Zealanders are frustrated that Tonga has not officially asked New Zealand for assistance with the clean-up from Cyclone Ian. The head of the Tongan Advisory Council in New Zealand says many Tongan churches and community groups in New Zealand want to contribute to relief supplies. Melino Maka says without a formal approach by the Tongan Government to their New Zealand counterparts, it will be difficult to get containers with goods to the affected island quickly. "It's quite frustrating for the community who constantly want us to make things happen, but we do not have any other way or other means at the moment," he said.

 

Gusts from Cyclone Ian approached 300 kilometres per hour as it smashed into the northern Tongan islands early Saturday, local time. It briefly weakened to a category four system before building up again to category five, bringing gale winds to the capital, Nuku'alofa. Authorities say Nuku'alofa, on the main Tongatapu islands in the south, as well as the central Vava'u island group, did not sustain as much damage as expected.

 

 

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/20741183/tongan-islanders-taking-stock-after-cyclone-ian-devastation/

[Chris W]

Just a quick word on the next SW Pacific TC - tropical disturbance 08F is in residence in the monsoon trough near the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu and is increasingly looking likely to become a tropical cyclone in the next couple of days or so according to Nadi:

 

http://www.met.gov.fj/aifs_prods/tc_outlook.pdf

 

This one is being projected by the BOM (and I hear GFS) - it currently lies in Brisbane's area of responsibility but will move to Nadi's soon - to track southwards over New Caledonia before impacting the North Island/upper South Island of New Zealand by which time it would be a sub-tropical low.