Cyclone

India's Gujarat state braces for most severe cyclone in over two decades

Cyclone Tauktae has killed at least 12 people and left a trail of destruction as it brushed past the coastal states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, authorities said.

It is set to make landfall in Gujarat late on Monday.

"This will be the most severe cyclone to hit Gujarat in at least 20 years. This can be compared with the 1998 cyclone that hit Kandla and inflicted heavy damage," state revenue secretary Pankaj Kumar told Reuters.

The cyclone increases pressure on local administrations already struggling with a high caseload of Covid-19 infections.

Project to monitor cyclone-hit breachfronts in Tonga

The project is being looked at by the Department of Environment and the Pacific Environment Journalists Network.

Ha'atafu and the Navutoka to Makaunga beachfronts have been identified on Tongatapu as likely sites for the project.

It involves the installation of a phone base along beachfronts, where daily footage of the site can be photographed and the images will be sent for analysing.

The data can be used to help monitor changes that happen along the beachfront over a certain period of time and help in decision making.

More resilient school buildings for 9,000 Tongan students

The funding will extend the Pacific Resilience Program’s support to the government of Tonga in delivering early warning systems, resilient investments, and financial protection against natural disasters.

Further, five more years of disaster risk financing insurance premiums will be paid for under the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Finance Initiative (PCRAFI) disaster risk finance and insurance program, which rapidly paid out US$3.5 million in emergency funds to the government of Tonga, following severe Tropical Cyclone Gita.

Meet the storm chaser who gets a thrill from severe weather

"I was the kid that Mum used to yell out to get off the patio and stop sitting outside watching the lightning and the thunderstorms," he told ABC News Breakfast.

The freelance cameraman and passionate storm chaser has spent the last seven years chasing storms in Australia and travelling to the US to volunteer as a driver for tourist groups wanting to experience the same thrills.

Tornados are the big attraction in America and he's seen 63 in just the last few years. He also raced to meet Cyclone Yasi, which tore through Queensland in 2011.

Tonga sends condolence to Fiji amid moments of grievous losses

Fijian officials said Friday there are currently 59,000 people in 275 evacuation centres. The death toll now remains at 44 including two people still missing.

The damage bill after various assessments of the damage in Fiji has already reached $650 million, the government says

In his letter, the Hon Pohiva said:

“I would like to express on behalf of the Government and People of the Kingdom of Tonga, our sincerest condolences and extend our deepest sympathies to all the victims and families affected by the unrelenting Tropical Cyclone Winston over the weekend.

Cyclone warning issued for Northern Cooks

The Fiji Met services says a tropical disturbance, which has been hovering over the northern Cook Islands over the last few days, has developed into a tropical cyclone.

It says cyclone Victor, a category two system, is moving southwest at nine kilometres an hour, and that close to the centre the cyclone is expected to have average winds of 92 kilometers an hour.

Cyclone shift

Kumar says there is a possibility that the country should expect to have Fiji cyclone season earlier instead of November, the usual month.

He said the official Tropical Cyclone season was from November to April, but records showed cyclones occurred outside the official tropical cyclone season.

“The current El Nino has a potential to change the distribution and frequency of tropical cyclones in the region. Please note that apart from August and September, tropical cyclones have occurred in all other months in the South Pacific,” Kumar said.

One dead and 16 missing in the Solomons after cyclone Raquel

More than 150 buildings were damaged or destroyed after tropical cyclone Raquel swept through the Islands last week.

One person was killed after being hit by a falling tree and a further 16 people are missing.

The category one storm swept through the southern part of the country before being downgraded to a Tropical Depression on Thursday evening.

Initial reports from the National Emergency Operations Centre show thousands of food gardens have been damaged or destroyed across the islands with over 40-thousand damaged in the southern region of Malaita alone.