|
2003–04 South Pacific Cyclone Season
The 2003–04 South Pacific cyclone season was a below-average season with only three tropical cyclones occurring within the South Pacific to the east of 160th meridian east, 160°E. The season officially ran from November 1, 2003 to April 30, 2004 with the first disturbance of the season forming on December 4 and the last disturbance dissipating on April 23.An average season has nine tropical cyclones, about half of which become severe tropical cyclones.RSMC Nadi warns on systems in the South Pacific which is located from the equator to 25°S and from 160°E to 120°W. TCWC Wellington warns on systems from 25°S to 40°S and from 160°E to 120°W This is the period of the year when most tropical cyclones form within the South Pacific Ocean. During the season at least 16 people were killed from tropical disturbances whilst overall damage was estimated at $ (2004 USD; $ USD). The most damaging tropical disturbance was Cyclone Heta which caused at least $ (2004 USD; $ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyclone Heta
Severe Tropical Cyclone Heta was a Category 5 tropical cyclone that caused moderate damage to the islands of Tonga, Niue, and American Samoa during late December 2003 and early January 2004. Heta formed on December 25, 2003; it reached a maximum intensity of 260 km/h (160 mph) and an estimated pressure of 915 hPa (27.02 inHg) before dissipating on January 11, 2004. It was the first named tropical cyclone to form during the 2003–04 South Pacific cyclone season. The damage Heta caused on Tonga, Niue, and American Samoa was estimated at $150 million (2004 USD), with most of the damage occurring in American Samoa; the cyclone was also responsible for one death. Heta precipitated a massive relief and clean-up operation that lasted throughout 2004. Meteorological history During December 25, 2003 the Fiji Meteorological Service reported that Tropical Disturbance 03F had developed underneath the subtropical ridge of high pressure about halfway between Fiji and Rotu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meteorological Service Of New Zealand Limited
Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited (MetService - Te Ratonga Tirorangi) is the national meteorological service of New Zealand. MetService was established as a state-owned enterprise in 1992. It employs about 300 staff, and its headquarters are in Wellington, New Zealand. Prior to becoming an SOE, New Zealand's national meteorological service has existed in a number of forms since the appointment of the country's first Director of Meteorological Stations in August 1861. As New Zealand's national meteorological service, MetService produces and issues forecasts and official weather warnings on behalf of New Zealand's Ministry of Transport and is certified by the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand. International media, aviation and energy business is conducted under the ''MetraWeather'' brand. MetService has been certified to the ISO 9001 standard since November 1995. History The weather forecasting service began in 1861, when a spate of shipwrecks prompted the Gov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio New Zealand International
RNZ Pacific or Radio New Zealand Pacific, sometimes abbreviated to RNZP, is a division of Radio New Zealand and the official international broadcasting station of New Zealand. It broadcasts a variety of news, current affairs and sports programmes in English and news in seven Pacific languages. The station's mission statement requires it to promote and reflect New Zealand in the Pacific, and better relations between New Zealand and Pacific countries. As the only shortwave radio station in New Zealand, RNZ Pacific broadcasts to several island nations. It has studios in Radio New Zealand House, Wellington and a transmitter at Rangitaiki in the middle of the North Island. Its broadcasts cover from East Timor in the west across to French Polynesia in the east, covering all South Pacific countries in between. The station targets Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, the Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga during a 24-hour rotation. The signal can also be heard in Ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanuatu
Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east of New Guinea, southeast of the Solomon Islands, and west of Fiji. Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people. The first Europeans to visit the islands were a Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Fernandes de Queirós, who arrived on the largest island, Espíritu Santo, in 1606. Queirós claimed the archipelago for Spain, as part of the colonial Spanish East Indies, and named it . In the 1880s, France and the United Kingdom claimed parts of the archipelago, and in 1906, they agreed on a framework for jointly managing the archipelago as the New Hebrides through an Anglo-French condominium. An independence movement arose in the 1970s, and the Republic of Vanuatu was fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, according to Johnson's Tribune, Tonga has a population of 104,494, 70% of whom reside on the main island, Tongatapu. The country stretches approximately north-south. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest; Samoa to the northeast; New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the west; Niue (the nearest foreign territory) to the east; and Kermadec (New Zealand) to the southwest. Tonga is about from New Zealand's North Island. First inhabited roughly 2,500 years ago by the Lapita civilization, Tonga's Polynesian settlers gradually evolved a distinct and strong ethnic identity, language, and culture as the Tongan people. They were quick to establish a powerful footing acr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emergency Evacuation
Emergency evacuation is the urgent immediate egress or escape of people away from an area that contains an imminent threat, an ongoing threat or a hazard to lives or property. Examples range from the small-scale evacuation of a building due to a storm or fire to the large-scale evacuation of a city because of a flood, bombardment or approaching weather system, especially a tropical cyclone. In situations involving hazardous materials or possible contamination, evacuees may be decontaminated prior to being transported out of the contaminated area. Evacuation planning is an important aspect of business management of which emergency evacuation forms a part. Reasons for evacuation Evacuations may be carried out before, during, or after disasters such as: * Natural disasters ** Eruptions of volcanoes ** Tropical cyclones ** Floods ** Earthquakes ** Tsunamis ** Wildfires/Bushfires * Industrial accidents ** Chemical spill ** Nuclear accident * Transport ** Road accidents ** Tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
State Of Emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state during a natural disaster, civil unrest, armed conflict, medical pandemic or epidemic or other biosecurity risk. ''Justitium'' is its equivalent in Roman law—a concept in which the Roman Senate could put forward a final decree (''senatus consultum ultimum'') that was not subject to dispute yet helped save lives in times of strife. Relationship with international law Under international law, rights and freedoms may be suspended during a state of emergency, depending on the severity of the emergency and a government's policies. Use and viewpoints Though fairly uncommon in democracies, dictatorship, dictatorial regimes often declare a state of emergency that is prolonged indefinitely for the life of the regime, or for extended periods of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International Date Line, while Samoa is west of the Line. The total land area is , slightly more than Washington, D.C. American Samoa is the southernmost territory of the United States and one of two U.S. territories south of the Equator, along with the uninhabited Jarvis Island. Tuna products are the main exports, and the main trading partner is the rest of the United States. American Samoa consists of five main islands and two coral atolls. The largest and most populous island is Tutuila, with the Manuʻa Islands, Rose Atoll and Swains Island also included in the territory. All islands except for Swains Island are part of the Samoan Islands, west of the Cook Islands, north of Tonga, and some south of Tokelau. To the west are the islands of the Wall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niue
Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands. It is 604 kilometres northeast of Tonga. The island is commonly referred to as "The Rock", which comes from the traditional name "Rock of Polynesia". Niue is one of the world's largest coral islands. The terrain of the island has two noticeable levels. The higher level is made up of a limestone cliff running along the coast, with a plateau in the centre of the island reaching approximately 60 metres (200 feet) above sea level. The lower level is a coastal terrace approximately 0.5 km (0.3 miles) wide and about 25–27 metres (80–90 feet) high, which slopes down and meets the sea in small cliffs. A coral reef surrounds the island, with the only major break in the reef being in the central western c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anticyclone). Cyclones are characterized by inward-spiraling winds that rotate about a zone of low pressure. The largest low-pressure systems are polar vortices and extratropical cyclones of the largest scale (the synoptic scale). Warm-core cyclones such as tropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones also lie within the synoptic scale. Mesocyclones, tornadoes, and dust devils lie within smaller mesoscale. Upper level cyclones can exist without the presence of a surface low, and can pinch off from the base of the tropical upper tropospheric trough during the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere. Cyclones have also been seen on extraterrestrial planets, such as Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune. Cyclogenesis is the process of cyclone formation and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Depression 10F (2004)
Tropical Depression 10F (JTWC designation: 22P) was a small tropical depression that became the deadliest tropical cyclone of the 2004 season, claiming 11 lives in the Fiji islands. Meteorological history Tropical Depression 10F was first identified early on April 5 by the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center in Nadi, Fiji as a weak tropical disturbance. The disturbance at this time was located about 700 km (435 mi) to the north of Port Vila, Vanuatu and was embedded within a monsoon trough that extended from the Solomon Islands to the north of Fiji. Major convection around the system was displaced to the north and north east of the low level circulation center. The system was located within a favorable area to develop further with sea surface temperatures of over 30 °C and light vertical windshear. Preparations and impact Thousands of tourists holidaying in Fiji were asked to remain indoors while the tropical depression affected Fiji with domestic fligh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
