Tropical Cyclone Tomas heading straight towards Fiji Group (FijiVillage) “At the moment all the model guidance is agreeing to bring the track right across Fiji, starting from Vanua Levu, the big island to the north, and then come down through Fiji on its way southward.” The Fiji Metservice says Tomas is a category two system but is likely to significantly intensify over the next day or so.įorecaster Alipate Waqaicelua says by then the cyclone could threaten Vanua Levu and Viti Levu with winds of up to 125 knots.
The projected storm track idicates Tomas will cross directly over the two main islands likely on Monday.Ĭyclone Tomas forecast to roar across the centre of Fiji from Monday (Radio New Zealand International) The Atlantic hurricane season ends November 30.Tropical Cyclone Tomas is gaining in intensity as it heads towards the Fiji Islands. November hurricanes are rare, CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider said. The storm sent about 1,000 people into shelters, said Michelle Forbes, acting director of National Emergency Management. Vincent, where two people were injured when they attempted to fix roof damage during the storm, officials said. Hewanorra International Airport has reopened.Īid from the United States and France was expected to arrive Tuesday to help clear roads, she said.īut access to fresh water remained a concern: Soomer predicted that damaged water mains would be “at least halfway back to normal” by the end of the week. Some towns, including Soufriere on the southwest coast, were reachable only by sea, she said.īut two bridges in the north have been partially reopened so people can get from the fishing village of Gros-Islet to the capital city, Castries, she said. “Roads and bridges have collapsed, schools damaged … homes have been destroyed,” Soomer said.
“No one could have adequately prepared for the event as the hurricane moved very slowly, a mere 8 miles per hour over the country, and deposited two years’ annual rainfall in a 24-hour period,” said June Soomer, an official in the prime minister’s office. Lucian Prime Minister Stephenson King issued a declaration of disaster. The death toll attributed to the storm rose Tuesday to 12, and St. Lucia as a Category 1 hurricane on Sunday morning and caused major damage by the time its winds subsided Monday night. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “Supplies are being pre-positioned notably in Jeremie, Les Cayes, Jacmel and Leogane, which are expected to experience the storm more severely,” according to Martin Nesirky with the U.N. With the possibility of landslides, flooding and washed-out roads and bridges in Haiti, the United Nations was scrambling to get supplies to key staging areas on the island, a U.N. It was moving west-northwest at 6 mph (9 kph).Ī turn toward the northeast is expected over the next two days. ET, Tomas had winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and was centered about 305 miles (490 kilometers) south-southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and about 250 miles (405 kilometers) south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, the center said. Haiti’s president and prime minister held an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss evacuations of coastal communities, the United Nations said Wednesday.Īnd the United States has deployed the amphibious naval ship Iwo Jima to provide humanitarian support, the U.S. Tomas could dump enough rain for accumulations of 5 to 10 inches over much of Haiti, some of which could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, the hurricane center said. Public health officials are especially concerned because of a cholera outbreak in Haiti that has killed more than 300 people and could worsen with the coming storm. The official National Hurricane Center forecast track shows that Tomas is likely to make landfall in southwestern Haiti on Friday as a tropical storm, which would mean sustained winds between 39 mph (63 kph) and 73 mph (117 kph), with higher gusts. Warnings mean storm conditions are expected within the warning area within 36 hours. Watches mean storm conditions are possible with the watch area, usually within 48 hours. A tropical storm watch was already in effect for Jamaica. The storm had fallen to tropical depression status just hours earlier, but forecasters anticipated the strengthening and said it might regain hurricane strength.Ī tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch were issued for Haiti, while the governments of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas issued tropical storm watches. Tomas returned to tropical storm strength late Wednesday afternoon as it ground through the southern Caribbean en route to earthquake-devastated Haiti.
0 kommentar(er)
