Post by Tulameen on Feb 15, 2005 11:55:00 GMT -5
2 storms threaten South Pacific islands
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (AFP) — Residents of American Samoa, Samoa and the Cook Islands rushed to buy emergency supplies Monday and tourists evacuated resorts as two powerful cyclones bore down on the South Pacific nations.
"This is a critically dangerous situation for Samoa, American Samoa and the Southern Cooks," warned the Australian-Pacific Center for Emergency and Disaster Information (APCEDI) as Cyclones Olaf and Nancy swept towards the islands.
Olaf intensified into a Category 4/5 "Super Cyclone" Monday and was forecast to strike the Samoas with "very destructive" winds of 155-170 mph within 12 to 24 hours, on Tuesday, the Samoa weather service said. (Samoa is just east of the International Date Line, six hours earlier than U.S. eastern time, which means it's the same day there as in the mainland USA.)
The cyclone is then expected to continue southeastward to the southern Cook Islands, one of the region's main tourist destinations and which were still cleaning up significant damage from a major cyclone strike last week.
Cyclone Nancy, coming at the Cook Islands from the north, appeared to peak in strength Monday as a strong Category 4 storm and was expected to hit the island of Aitutake within 12 to 24 hours, followed quickly by Olaf, APCEDI said.
Cyclones are the same kind of storms as hurricanes and the 1 to 5 categories are the same as those used for Atlantic Basin hurricanes.
"Authorities in the Cooks should be very much aware that Cyclone Olaf is forecast to be following on the heels of Cyclone Nancy as a another major cyclone, and there may be very little time between storms to recover or do any repairs," the center said in its warning.
"This is an unusual and increasingly very dangerous situation," it said.
The Fiji Meteorological Service warned that the twin cyclones would create "phenomenal" seas with damaging swells around Aitutake and the main island of Rarotonga, just a week after they bore the brunt of another Category 4 cyclone, Meena. (Related story: Cyclone Meena)
The cyclones were also expected to generate strong winds and high seas around the countries of Tokelau, Tuvalu, Niue and Wallis and Futuna, and could affect southern areas of French Polynesia.
Cook Islands cyclone centers reported that by Monday most tourists had evacuated the resorts on Aitutake, one of the South Pacific's most picturesque atolls, and that residents of low-lying areas on both Aitutake and Rarotonga were taking refuge in shelters on higher ground.
In Pago Pago, meteorologist Mase Akapo Akapo said Cyclone Olaf was forecast to be one of the strongest storms ever to hit the Samoas and urged the islands' 230,000 residents to be prepared.
The city's residents lined up outside banks and gas stations and rushed stores to buy flashlights, lumber, canned goods and bottled water ahead of the storm.
Schools sent their students home early on Monday and the US territory's two largest private employers, Star Kist Samoa and Samoa Packing, told their 5,000 employees to stay home Tuesday and Wednesday.
Flights in and out of the islands were cancelled and airports closed, while fishing boat and yacht owners rushed to secure their vessels.
Some people were not letting the pending cyclone get in the way of their Valentine Day celebrations however, with an annual Valentine's Day Dinner sponsored by the American Samoa Tennis Association going ahead Monday night despite the cyclone warning.
In neighboring Apia, the bigger boats in Samoas large fishing fleet headed for the shelter of Pago Pago's more protected harbor while smaller, locally made fishing boats were pulled ashore.
(Contributing: Jack Williams, USATODAY.com)
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images.usatoday.com/weather/_photos/2005/02/15/inside2-tuesday-am.-cyclones.jpg [/img]
Southern edge of Cyclone Olaf, upper left, begins to move over Samoa early Tuesday. Larger, but weaker, Cyclone Nancy is on the right.
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (AFP) — Residents of American Samoa, Samoa and the Cook Islands rushed to buy emergency supplies Monday and tourists evacuated resorts as two powerful cyclones bore down on the South Pacific nations.
"This is a critically dangerous situation for Samoa, American Samoa and the Southern Cooks," warned the Australian-Pacific Center for Emergency and Disaster Information (APCEDI) as Cyclones Olaf and Nancy swept towards the islands.
Olaf intensified into a Category 4/5 "Super Cyclone" Monday and was forecast to strike the Samoas with "very destructive" winds of 155-170 mph within 12 to 24 hours, on Tuesday, the Samoa weather service said. (Samoa is just east of the International Date Line, six hours earlier than U.S. eastern time, which means it's the same day there as in the mainland USA.)
The cyclone is then expected to continue southeastward to the southern Cook Islands, one of the region's main tourist destinations and which were still cleaning up significant damage from a major cyclone strike last week.
Cyclone Nancy, coming at the Cook Islands from the north, appeared to peak in strength Monday as a strong Category 4 storm and was expected to hit the island of Aitutake within 12 to 24 hours, followed quickly by Olaf, APCEDI said.
Cyclones are the same kind of storms as hurricanes and the 1 to 5 categories are the same as those used for Atlantic Basin hurricanes.
"Authorities in the Cooks should be very much aware that Cyclone Olaf is forecast to be following on the heels of Cyclone Nancy as a another major cyclone, and there may be very little time between storms to recover or do any repairs," the center said in its warning.
"This is an unusual and increasingly very dangerous situation," it said.
The Fiji Meteorological Service warned that the twin cyclones would create "phenomenal" seas with damaging swells around Aitutake and the main island of Rarotonga, just a week after they bore the brunt of another Category 4 cyclone, Meena. (Related story: Cyclone Meena)
The cyclones were also expected to generate strong winds and high seas around the countries of Tokelau, Tuvalu, Niue and Wallis and Futuna, and could affect southern areas of French Polynesia.
Cook Islands cyclone centers reported that by Monday most tourists had evacuated the resorts on Aitutake, one of the South Pacific's most picturesque atolls, and that residents of low-lying areas on both Aitutake and Rarotonga were taking refuge in shelters on higher ground.
In Pago Pago, meteorologist Mase Akapo Akapo said Cyclone Olaf was forecast to be one of the strongest storms ever to hit the Samoas and urged the islands' 230,000 residents to be prepared.
The city's residents lined up outside banks and gas stations and rushed stores to buy flashlights, lumber, canned goods and bottled water ahead of the storm.
Schools sent their students home early on Monday and the US territory's two largest private employers, Star Kist Samoa and Samoa Packing, told their 5,000 employees to stay home Tuesday and Wednesday.
Flights in and out of the islands were cancelled and airports closed, while fishing boat and yacht owners rushed to secure their vessels.
Some people were not letting the pending cyclone get in the way of their Valentine Day celebrations however, with an annual Valentine's Day Dinner sponsored by the American Samoa Tennis Association going ahead Monday night despite the cyclone warning.
In neighboring Apia, the bigger boats in Samoas large fishing fleet headed for the shelter of Pago Pago's more protected harbor while smaller, locally made fishing boats were pulled ashore.
(Contributing: Jack Williams, USATODAY.com)
Southern edge of Cyclone Olaf, upper left, begins to move over Samoa early Tuesday. Larger, but weaker, Cyclone Nancy is on the right.
