In the South Pacific, tropical cyclone Niran was feared because of its power. He finally met New Caledonia today and caused Gusts of up to 200 km / h, 2 to 3 meter high waves and very intense rainfall over the region.
Fortunately, the strongest storm only passed the western areas of New Caledonia. The death toll is limited, according to an initial report 2 people were slightly injured. E.Property damage has been recorded, with lots of fallen objects and trees. Hundreds of people had to be housed makeshift.
A potentially powerful cyclone
Cyclone Niran formed northeast of Australia in the middle of the week and then moved southeast, while increasing to Category 4 on the South Pacific Cyclone Scale (Australian classification).
Modeling predicted that Niran would only run along the west side of New Caledonia without actually going inland. Reality proved them right, because the strongest gusts that exceeded 250 km / h took place on the high seas.
#new #NewCaledonia #newcaledonia #cylone #hurricane #Hurricane #noumea #New Caledonia Full power wind Baro 971… Torn-off debris is flying pic.twitter.com/WtUY3CZMaj
— Semistia Culture (@semistia) March 6, 2021
On the west coast of New Caledonia, however, there were gusts of almost 200 km / h, in Nessadiou (southwestern part of the island) even up to 189 km / h. At the airport in the capital Noumea, the wind gusts reached 153 km / h.
Very heavy rains also affected Grande Terre, especially in the mountains, with amounts greater than 100 mm. This resulted in floods.
The Caledonians filmed the passage of #cyclone #Niran and its consequences. He did not make a victim in Grande Terre, but damage. Alert 2 is still in effect. pic.twitter.com/4X2iTmk2pf
— La1ere.fr (@la1ere) March 6, 2021
Fortunately, the damage was limited.
The passage of the cyclone off New Caledonia made it possible to contain the human and material damage. Only two people were slightly injured, including a child who was injured by broken glass.
The cyclone #Niran violently crossed New Caledonia. At this point, we only deplore material damage and 2 minor injuries. Support for all the services mobilized to help the populations, restore electricity, communications and traffic routes
– Sébastien Lecornu (@SebLecornu) March 6, 2021
On the material side, the damage is sometimes serious, many trees were uprooted and roofs torn down. Many ships are also stranded on the coast of Grande Terre. At the height of the storm, 20,000 people were without electricity, around 500 people had to be sheltered in gyms or community centers.
Tomorrow the storm is likely to weaken further. The situation then eases again.
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