Now that we are into the cyclone season, it is apt that we remind ourselves about safety. We have been warned to expect at least three severe cyclones above Category 3 in the November 2022 – April 2023 cyclone season. Now that should attract attention.
It was a warning sent out to the southwest Pacific, which includes Fiji, by the Meteorological Service of New Zealand Ltd (MetService) early last month.
The release of the 2022 tropical cyclone outlook, it said, was a collaborative work with input from New Zealand’s official Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology and national meteorological services from other Pacific nations.
We have been warned of an increased cyclone risk West of Fiji. The southwest Pacific region, however, was expected to get six to 10 named tropical cyclones in the cyclone season, which is quite a large number.
As we look to the Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS) for its 2022-2023 outlook, we must accept that the onus falls back on us to be prepared.
We should be taking heed of alerts, warnings and advisories issued by both the Fiji Meteorological Service and the National Disaster Management Office.
The weather office has warned one of these systems could be a severe system. We’ve all got to admit that natural disasters are not something new for Fiji.
They have not just come out of the woodworks so to speak. They have been part of our lives, and we have a cyclone season.
It is not difficult to appreciate the impact of a cyclone, and the impact on our lives because we have lived through natural disasters that greatly affected us.
We keep reflecting on the mega storm, Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston that struck us back in 2016 for obvious reasons. Who can ever forget that?
No one had ever experienced such a storm here in Fiji. And the Category 5 system struck with such power and force that people still remember that night of horror!
It went past us in a blaze of fury and power that year, leaving behind death and destruction, fear, frustration, anger and uncertainty.
The power Winston unleashed on the country was shocking.
Winston flattened houses, uprooted trees, blew away roofs, caused massive flooding, and there were frightened people, and death.
Average winds of up to 220km an hour and momentary gusts of up to 315km an hour close to its centre, made sure Winston would never be forgotten easily.
The fully-fledged Cat 5 megastorm swept through Koro Island, destroying 315 homes. In its wake, concrete buildings were flattened.
The horror and tales of heroism live on in the minds of survivors. We reflect on our annual cyclone period, remember natural disasters that hit us, and embrace preparation for the future. It pays to be prepared.
