Cyclone Tracey In Australia | Blog: Medical Bracelet Watch

Tropical Cyclone Tomas has caused considerable damage in Fiji with loss of life and huge numbers of people evacuated to shelter. Associated Press reported on 16 March that Fiji declared a state of emergency and ordered troops to launch relief operations in northern regions battered by the storm.

For an island people living in such a fragile environment, Mother Nature can be cruel. That these people depend so much on the outside world for their economic health through the visitor industry makes the weather’s ability to wreak havoc doubly disastrous. The cyclone season can run in the South Pacific from November through to April, and every year one or more of its storms can be relied upon to have serious consequences somewhere. Indeed, as Tomas was doing its business in Fiji, Cyclone Ului was threatening the Solomon Islands.

A Series of Cyclones in 2010

Just a month earlier in February 2010, both Tonga and the Cook Islands were hit by tropical cyclones. On the island of Aitutaki, a tourist paradise in the southern Cook Islands, Cyclone Pat destroyed numerous homes and business premises. In Tonga, Cyclone Renee was reported by the Meteorological Office as packing winds gusting to 228 kilometers per hour as it crossed the Ha’apai Group. On these occasions there was no loss of life. Damage was extensive but did not prevent the resilient islanders from getting back to business quickly.