Category 5 Cyclone Pam Vs. Vanuatu History
UPDATE 3/14:Massive damage and fatalities on the island.
ORIGINAL BLOG 3/13:
Super Cyclone Pam, at Category 5 Hurricane strength, is razing the island nation of Vanuatu today. Check out this video by Bernie Rayno (download hi-res 3d radar estimated precip movie here).
Our forecast article is keeping up with the statistics and track...
Here I'd like to talk about the history of cyclones on the islands and show some amazing satellite images of Pam.
In 2006, I listed 17 major cyclones that affected Vanuatu on my blog. I've updated that list below. The bottom line is that the flagship storms from this list, in the Internet era, are Cyclone Zoe (December 2002), Cyclone Ivy (February 2004) and Cyclone Funa (January 2008).
Our article says that Cyclone Zoe was the South Pacific Basin's strongest cyclone, at 890mb pressure, though Pam isn't far behind, at 899.
12/24/1951 - 100 killed by wind storm; considered country's worst natural disaster (UN)
2/2/1972 - 4 killed by wind storm (UN)
1/17/1985 - 9 killed, 100,000 affected by wind storm (UN) Cyclone Eric (Wikipedia)
2/7/1987 - 48 killed, 48,000 affected by wind storm (UN)
1/10/1988 - Minor damage from Cyclone Anne (Wikipedia)
3/8/1992 - Major damage from Cyclone Fran (Wikipedia)
2/28/1998 - Severe damage; circled island for a week (Wikipedia)
1/11/1998 - 4,700 affected by wind storm (UN) Cyclone Susan makes a close approach causing minor damage (Wikipedia)
3/31/1998 - 2,400 affected by wind storm (UN)
8/1988 - 2,000 affected by wind storm (UN)
11/18/1991 - Minor damage from Cyclone Tia (Wikipedia)
1/9/1992 - 2 killed by wind storm (UN)
3/9/1992 - 1,150 affected by wind storm (UN)
2/5/1994 - Some damage from Cyclone Rewa (Wikipedia)
5/8/1999 - 32 killed by wind storm (UN)
2/28/2001 - 1 killed by wind storm (UN) 45-50% of all houses and gardens in Vanuatu were reported to have been damaged by Cyclone Paula, as well as 25% of other infrastructure (WikiPedia)
4/7/2001 - 1 killed by wind storm (UN) Cyclone Sose causes further damage (Wikipedia)
12/30/2002 - Cyclone Zoe makes a close pass (NASA) and Vanuatu was "inundated with seawater" (WikiPedia). The storm was 899mb, the strongest cyclone ever in the South Pacific (AccuWeather.com)
1/7/2003 - Heavy damage from rainstorms (Environment News Service)
1/29/2003 - Cyclone Beni causes storm surge damage (PacificDisaster.Net)
3/30/2003 - 4 killed, 12,000 affected by wind storm (UN)
2/26/2004 - Cyclone Ivy tracks directly over the islands with 110-knot winds, affecting 54,000 people and killing two. This was the worst cyclone there since the Internet era. (OCHA) 11,000 houses, 90% of water facilities, 60% of health centers, 112 schools; $3.8m 2004 USD damage, 2 deaths (WikiPedia)
10/24/2006 - Cyclone Xavier approaches Vanuatu (WeatherMatrix and causes minor damage Wikipedia)
1/17/2008 - Cyclone Funa does severe damage (Wikipedia)
1/10/2011 - Cyclone Vania does minor damage (Wikpedia)
2/13/2012 - Cyclone Jasmine does damage to crops and homes (Wikipedia)
NOTES: Data compiled using the UN report and the Wikipedia Vanuatu Cyclones page (names bolded; storms without damage are not listed here).
