All Cyclone Pam threads merged to here

[gjordan]

It may be on another thread, but I just caught a news flash about a cyclone headed for Vanuatu with up to 160 knot winds. It is also expected to effect Fiji. I hope everybody is ready. _____Grant.

[MarkJ]

Pete from NoTies is in it.

Hope they are OK.

[zeehag]

oshit. gettheflockoutta there no ties!!!!
hope they are more than ready and have left for safer areas

[JPA Cate]

If any of you are interested and can read French, the Meteo Nouvelle-Caledonie text will tell you what their view is, they're due to have the center off Mare & Lifou this afternoon.

I am told via a Skype communication that some have died on Efate, but this is rumor at this stage.

Meteo said the center pressure was 899 @ 0500 L this morning.

Ann

[DumnMad]

Loss of life - very sad for these lovely people.
Please give us a yacht/marina/anchorage report when you come back on line.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by NoTies

Pam has now changed direction and is heading pretty much straight for us. Category 5 direct hit is going to be very very bad for Port Vila and anywhere else it hits. Amazed we still have power, it's fair pumping outside.

Yeah, saw it had changed course. Take care and keep safe.

[Ozbullwinkle]

TC Pam is packing wind gusts of up to 340 Km per hour..

I am waiting to hear from friends who live over there, one who runs Vanuatu Yacht Services and another who has a resort in Port Havana. Also a 60 foot FP Eleuthera cat "Rendezvous" owned by my best friend that I did the delivery from St Marten on is on the hard at the Yacht Services yard in preparation for Pam and we are awaiting to hear how it fared as well.

All communications are currently down in Port Vila.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[DeepFrz]

Holy crap. Gusts to 200 mph.

[hpeer]

340 km/hr
211 mph
183 knots
7 pucker factors

[boatman61]

Here's hoping our CF friends in Port Louis and other parts of the islands are safe and well...
Sheesh... 300km+ winds and 40ft+ sea's...
Be safe folks..
Tropical Cyclone Pam weakens but still battering islands of Vanuatu - CNN.com

[banjoship]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Meteo said the center pressure was 899 @ 0500 L this morning.

Ann

That is fearsome. I have watched this cyclone develop over the last few days, always concerned that it might land on Queensland. Instead, it looks like landing on NZ, still, possibly, at cyclone strength.

Just for interest, I looked up the lowest ever recorded pressure:

The lowest non-tornadic atmospheric pressure ever measured was 870 hPa (25.69 inHg), set on 12 October 1979, during Typhoon Tip in the western Pacific Ocean. The measurement was based on an instrumental observation made from a reconnaissance aircraft.[9]

Lee

[boatman61]

The centre passed 100miles E of Port Villa.. supposed to weaken and veer E of N Island by Sunday/Monday..

[zeehag]

storm 2k has some impressive pix and projections.
i hope all in area have moved to safety and that damages are mimimsl...
is a most impresssive storm system.

[boatman61]

Latest on Sky.. the centre passed 40miles E of Pt Villa only 1500 made the shelters Save the Children Melbourne reporting dozens killed.. kids stumbling round without parents.. sounds pretty bad

[Island Time O25]

It is pretty bad.
Dozens feared dead as cyclone pounds Pacific island of Vanuatu

Suva (Fiji) (AFP) - A huge tropical cyclone smashed into Vanuatu in the South Pacific, terrifying residents and leaving "complete devastation" with fears Saturday that dozens of people may have died.

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UNICEF New Zealand said Saturday Super Tropical Cyclone Pam could be one of the worst weather disasters for the Pacific.

"While it is too early to say for certain, early reports are indicating that this weather disaster could potentially be one of the worst in Pacific history," New Zealand executive director Vivien Maidaborn said in a statement.

"The sheer force of the storm combined with communities just not set up to withstand it, could have devastating results for thousands across the region."

Powerlines and communications are down for much of Vanuatu and the Port Vila airport remained closed. UNICEF said its biggest concerns were now about ensuring shelter for those impacted.

UNICEF's Pacific communications specialist Alice Clements, who is in Port Vila, said it was clear that the full force of Cyclone Pam was dramatically worse than predicted and would be a catastrophe for Vanuatu.

"I saw the sliding doors from my three storey hotel room completely blow away -- it was terrifying," she said.

"We have some very unconfirmed reports of casualties from the outer islands as well but we're waiting to get official confirmation on those, which is very sad news if it's true."

The full extent of the damage is unknown, with limited communications in place after maximum category five storm Cyclone Pam slammed directly into the island country with winds up to 330 kilometres (205 miles) an hour overnight.

"We could see some loss of life, potentially serious loss but we don't know yet," Sune Gudnitz, who heads the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Pacific, told AFP.

"The feedback is that there appears to be quite widespread devastation. There is debris in the streets and widespread flooding."

The UN had unconfirmed reports of 44 people killed in one province.

View gallerySuper Tropical Cyclone Pam rips through South Pacific …
Waves and scattered debris are seen along the coast, caused by Cyclone Pam, in the Vanuatu capital o …
Save the Children's Tom Skirrow, speaking from the capital Port Vila, said: "The scene here this morning is complete devastation -- houses are destroyed, trees are down, roads are blocked and people are wandering the streets looking for help.

"Communications are down across much of the country with the total extent of the devastation unlikely to be known for several days," he said, adding that aid agencies faced a massive challenge.

Aid worker Chloe Morrison said she had spent the night in the capital Port Vila bunkering down in fear.

"There are reports from our other colleagues of entire villages being literally blown away overnight," she told Australian Associated Press.

"Local houses and leaf huts would have been picked up like confetti last night."

Unicef spokeswoman Alice Clements described the cyclone, as "15-30 minutes of absolute terror" for "everybody in this country" as it passed over.

"We have some very unconfirmed reports of casualties from the outer islands as well but we're waiting to get official confirmation on those, which is very sad news if it's true," she told Radio New Zealand.

- Howling winds -

The storm crossed the main Vanuatu island, home to more than 65,000, and a group of islands further south where 33,000 people live.

Red Cross Pacific regional head Aurelia Balpe told AFP that islanders packed into caves and other makeshift shelters as they resorted to "traditional coping strategies".

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology, which has been monitoring the storm, said most parts of Vanuatu had been affected.

The storm reportedly changed course at the last minute, passing closer to Port Vila than expected.

During the night, the administrator of the Humans of Vanuatu Facebook page wrote: "It's really bad out there. The wind is howling with a deep roar that just doesn't let up. Anyone not in shelter now is in mortal danger."

"The news reports that a communications tower on Ambrym island has fallen down. There seem to have been fatalities, but of course it's impossible to confirm just now."

Power was out in much of Vanuatu and communications were cut, although aid agency Save the Children said Pam "is feared to have caused widespread damage" and it was preparing to mount a humanitarian response.

The Red Cross was also assessing what was required in terms of food, medicine and shelter.

Aid agencies hoped to be able to start flying in emergency supplies of food, shelter and medicine from Sunday when the airport in Port Vila is expected to reopen.

Meanwhile the Vanuatu Meteorological Service has forecast "very destructive" hurricane-force winds, torrential rain and flash flooding for most of Saturday.

Fiji Weather Service meteorologist Neville Koop said the cyclone was weakening as it slowly moved away from Vanuatu, and would pass between Fiji and New Caledonia before brushing the North Island of New Zealand on Monday.

Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said that Canberra was ready to assist Vanuatu, and had medical and search and rescue staff on standby.

"We would be prepared to send people in, if and when required," she said.