cyclone News

Vanuatu Villagers Provide Lessons in Survival After Cyclone Pam

Villagers in Vanuatu buried food and fresh water as one of the strongest storms on record bore down on them, fleeing to churches, schools and even coconut drying kilns as 300 kph winds and massive seas tore their flimsy houses …

Rescue Teams Battle to Reach Outer Vanuatu Islands Devastated by Cyclone

Residents of the main town in the southern Vanuatu island of Tanna appear to have come through the worst of the cyclone that tore through the South Pacific nation with widespread devastation but not the heavy death toll initially feared. …

Vanuatu Government Declares State of Emergency After ‘Monster’ Cyclone

Vanuatu’s government declared a nationwide state of emergency after Cyclone Pam tore through the South Pacific archipelago, leaving at least eight people dead and severing communications with more remote islands. “This was a cyclone that flattened houses and, unfortunately, to …

AIR Estimates Yasi Insured Losses between $356 Million and $1.5 Billion

Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide has issued early estimates indicating that insured losses to properties and business income from the Category 5 (Australia Bureau of Meteorology intensity scale) cyclone Yasi that struck Australia at midnight local time, Wednesday, February 2, …

La Nina Helps Fuel Monster Australian Cyclone Yasi

Record ocean temperatures and an intense La Nina weather pattern have helped spawn one of the most powerful cyclones in Australia but whether there’s a direct climate change link is less clear. Cyclone Yasi, a maximum category 5 storm, was …