| |
2010-02-15 04:00:04 - Tropical Storm - Tonga EDIS CODE: TC-20100215-24935-TON
Date & Time: 2010-02-15 04:00:04 [UTC]
Area: Tonga, , Statewide, Damage level: Moderate (Level 2)
Not confirmed information! Description: Northern and central Tonga were being slammed by Cyclone Rene on Monday, with powerful winds ripping off roofs, tearing down trees and power lines and cutting communications with the capital in the south of the country, officials said. "We don't know the extent of the damage right now, though there are no reports of serious damage or injuries," the South Pacific nation's National Disaster Office deputy director, Mali'u Takai, said. Contact with the northern Vavau island group was lost shortly after midnight as Cyclone Rene buffeted the low-lying atolls, tearing down trees, cutting roads and sparking coastal flooding as roiling seas surged ashore. Initial reports were that the storm's winds had reached 72 mph (115 kph) near the main northern town of Neiafu, then dropped to just 8 mph (13 kph) as the cyclone's eye passed over the area. Damage was not as widespread as feared, he said. The Ha'apai islands, middle grouping in the Tongan archipelago, "is also experiencing damage to trees, roads and power supplies," Takai said. "The seas there are rough and are going to get worse." Tonga's Meteorological Office director Ofa Fa'anunu said they expected the storm center to head toward the main island of Tongatapu later Monday. The cyclone was already sparking heavy rain and had cut power supplies in the capital, Nuku'alofa. Tonga has some 101,000 people. Earlier the office warned that the cyclone could "increase to very destructive hurricane force."
|  | | | |
This blog offers a compilation of recent news and world events given by RSOE-Emergency and Disaster Information Service, Reuters News Agency, BBC News , CNN International and Al Jezeera News
