Cyclone Oli hits French Polynesia
Posted by
JAC on 2/4/2010, 6:25 am
AP - 2 hours 18 minutes agoSend IM Story Print
PAPEETE, Tahiti - Authorities in French Polynesia have given refuge to tourists and urged residents to stay indoors as Cyclone Oli blows through the region.
The archipelago that includes Tahiti is under red alert until the winds pass, and all roads are closed. High waves are buffeting buoys off the coast of Tahiti's capital, Papeete.
The French regional commissariat issued a statement saying Oli was upgraded from a tropical depression to a cyclone late Wednesday local time and is expected to reach its peak overnight to Thursday.
The statement predicted winds more than 130 kilometers (80 miles) an hour.
It says more than 600 tourists were given refuge and that a fisherman was rescued at sea. The statement urges residents to stay inside.
THE Pacific island of Tahiti has been placed on Red Alert and vulnerable residents have been evacuated as a powerful cyclone expected to bring seven-metre waves menaced the island, an official said.
Cyclone Oli, upgraded overnight from a tropical storm, is already drawing menacingly close to Bora Bora and Maupiti in the French Polynesian Leeward Islands, the High Commissioner said today.
The two have experienced winds of more than 120km per hour and travel by car has been banned.
More than 650 tourists trapped on Bora Bora have been rehoused in hotels while every school in western Polynesia is closed.
The population have been told to abandon primitive grass and mud dwellings and head to solid buildings such as town halls, schools or churches.
The High Commission - the territory's de facto government - has recommended "staying at home or joining communal shelters''.
The hospital told workers to remain at their posts for the coming 24 hours.
The High Commissioner - had warned the inhabitants of the two isolated Polynesian islands of Scilly and Mopelia to evacuate but they refused and are no longer reachable.
Tahiti and Moorea, on which the majority of Polynesians live, were put on red alert by the High Commission last night and traffic was prohibited several hours later.
The archipelago of the Leeward Islands includes Raiatea and Huahine, which are expected to be hit a few hours later.
French Minister for Overseas Territories Marie-Luce Penchard, who has been in Papeete since Sunday said her scheduled program had been completely changed.
"There are no planes taking off so I will leave on Friday morning as soon as possible,'' she said.
"A helicopter will recover 18 people who live by the sea in the Antilles and will bring back them to Faa'a (international airport), in Tahiti,'' the minister said.
"That is going to be complicated tonight,'' she added.
Penchard said that "if tomorrow there is widespread damage, I will go to the afflicted areas to see how France can help Polynesia''.
"There are very many families facing grave health dangers and I am very anxious for these families,'' she said.
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In this thread:
12P: Bora Bora and Tahiti Under-the-Gun -
JAC,
2/1/2010, 7:06 am- 1 killed in Cyclone Oli in French Polynesia - JAC, 2/5/2010, 7:22 am
- RI, Raw T# 6.9, 926mb - JAC, 2/4/2010, 10:49 am
- Cyclone Oli hits French Polynesia - JAC, 2/4/2010, 6:25 am
- Re: 12P: Bora Bora and Tahiti Under-the-Gun - hanna, 2/1/2010, 9:49 pm
- OLI should ramp up quickly - eyewall forming - JAC, 2/1/2010, 10:02 am
- Great looking poleward outflow channel and anti-cyclone - JAC, 2/1/2010, 7:13 am
- Lotsa hot water to work with - JAC, 2/1/2010, 7:09 am
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